The Demosthenes Protocol
by Tony Stark's Hidden Side
Summary: Post CA:CW The superhero community is in turmoil after the fiasco that was the Accords, but Tony Stark has a plan to pick up the pieces and glue them back together. Unfortunately, he's in a coma after the fight in Siberia. Fortunately, he's left detailed instructions for a team of 14 friends, enemies, and acquaintances... and someone else to help them along. HOLOGRAM!TONY COMA!TONY
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - This is an AU where the fight in Siberia left Tony Stark in a coma. As in canon, the superhero community is in turmoil, and most are sure it can never be put together again. Fortunately, in case of his death, Tony left behind something to pick up the pieces: the Demosthenes Protocol.**

 **This is what I wrote from one in the morning to eight thirty at night yesterday. I was up for twenty-two and a half hours, pretty much just to write this, so I decided I would just post it after I edited for spelling and grammar.**

 **It's 21,800 words in all and idk how many chapters I'm going to break it up into, but it's ALREADY DONE so it will be updated regularly.**

 **Er, just to be clear, this was written almost exclusively because I wanted a hologram of Tony to be guiding everyone through his master plan, because it seemed like a Very Tony Thing To Do.**

* * *

Steve hadn't thought Tony had been that badly hurt when they had left him in Siberia.

He certainly hadn't thought the word _coma_ would ever come into play.

The thumb drives were mailed out the day the doctors told Pepper, "He probably won't ever wake up." JARVIS may not have been as smart as he used to be, not since Tony had to reboot him from an outdated backup after the whole Ultron thing, but he knew one thing. When Tony had programmed the Demosthenes Protocol in the event of his death, JARVIS knew what it was intended for, and this was close enough.

He hoped he had made the right decision to activate it. If he hadn't, things in the superhero community could go even more wrong than they already had. Then again, when Tony had written the program, which took him over three weeks of lab time, he had used the phrase, "If it reaches this point, it's not like things will be able to get much worse."

More specifically, JARVIS was to activate the protocol if Tony died at the hands of another superhero. If another superhero was the victim, Tony planned to activate it himself.

He had almost done it when Colonel Rhodes was crippled. He had chosen not to because he figured Rhodes was considered affiliated with the army more than with superheroes.

Now everything really _had_ fallen apart, with some Avengers missing, some fugitives, and only The Vision still at the compound.

Something in JARVIS's learning brain made the decision. Sir was unable to activate the protocol when it was necessary, and this was the exact kind of situation it was made for.

The thumb drives were mailed out within the hour. Each one was in a package with a collapsed black mat, one that Tony had never patented and now never would.

One drive was delivered to a nondescript law firm in Hell's Kitchen, only a few minutes away from the Tower. Another made the trip across the river to Queens to find a young student.

An envelope containing two clearly labelled drives ended up in a package along with two mats and a rolled up sheaf of blueprint paper. It was delivered into the hands of the founder of a former 'rival company.'

One arrived in an army officer's mailbox. One thumb drive, without a mat, was simply carried cautiously by the robot Butterfingers up the elevator to the CEO's office in the tower.

One had a long journey, all the way to Tennessee. One travelled even farther, to a remote part of India and into the hands of a man who couldn't even be surprised that someone had discovered his location. One travelled all the way to the royal palace of an African nation. One was sent to the Avengers' Compound. Two made their way to London.

One found it impossible to find the intended recipient and ended up at the Barton farm, clearly labelled, only to mysteriously vanish a mere two days later. The last went through SHIELD channels, being scanned every step of the way but never plugged in until it reached its intended destination. Each was received within four days of being mailed, and each was regarded with some level of trepidation.

Well, not the one that went to Tennessee.

* * *

Each thumb drive was plugged into a computer as soon as it was opened. Each one caused a popup to open, one that merely read, _Are you alone?_

Aunts and teammates alike were ushered out of the room, given various excuses or simply told that it was classified until further notice. One by one, they assured the drive that they were, in fact, on their own.

Every screen went black.

In the center of the screen, an image started to grow, all in white. As it filled the screen, it became recognizable as a burning campfire.

Red words were suddenly typed out on top of the picture.

 _DEMOSTHENES PROTOCOL:_ ACTIVATED.

And suddenly it was all gone, replaced by a simple video feed of a man they all knew they would probably never see awake again. Dressed in a simple gray pinstripe suit with a black tie, he sat behind an empty desk and looked into the camera with a more serious face than some of them had ever seen from him.

"If you got this drive in the mail, it means I'm dead. And I hate to impose even more on you all, but if that's true, then I desperately need your help to fix what I've left behind."

* * *

 **A/N - Please work your way through the meh setup. I'm uploading the first three chapters all at once because I'm nice and they're short. We'll get to the Holographic Tony Speeches soon, that's the fun part. Love you all, please review, I have other stories I am more proud of so if you like Tony Stark please feel free to check out my profile.**

 **I, uh, I write a lot of Tony Stark.**

 **In case you couldn't guess by the username.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Like I said, I'm uploading ALL the setup at once. This story is in 3rd person, though sometimes I will write a chapter that, while still 3rd person, will focus on one character's thought process.**

 **So, have some Natasha, I guess?**

Natasha was in the basement of an abandoned building, slowly building a new cover, with all the documentation and internet history to match. She put it all aside for this one last message, only to find Tony Stark staring out of the screen at her, explaining that she was one of many people watching this video.

"I can't say exactly how many, because I'm going to be constantly changing the list, but if you're watching this you're part of it. Welcome to the Demosthenes Protocol, the alternative to the Sokovia Accords." Her eyes widened, but Tony didn't even blink before continuing. "There are always going to be superheroes who can't accept the idea of working for, or working only with the approval of, any political body."

That was true enough. The basic idea of the Accords had been to make them take some responsibility for their actions, but the idea of reporting to the United Nations or any committee had pushed away most of them in the end. And cost Tony his life.

"Here's the thing." The figure on-screen sighed. "I don't particularly like it myself, but I've run the numbers, and the Sokovia Accords have the highest probability of keeping the public safe and keeping us accountable. If the Protocol has been activated, though, something went horribly wrong when we tried to introduce them, things went off the rails… and someone ended up dead."

A wince spread across his entire face. Natasha went slightly pale. It was almost as if he had seen this coming, with Barnes and the airport and Siberia and the Raft. He couldn't have, but like Clint sometimes called him behind his back, he was The Futurist.

Maybe he could _see_ the future as well as bring it into being.

"If that's true, and I'm alive, I'm showing you this video because I can't get near you without one of us dying. Sorry about that. There's a good probability, though, that I'm the one who died if I'm not telling you this in person. Sorry about that, too, because now more of the burden falls on your shoulders. I'm not exaggerating when I say the Demosthenes Protocol is probably the last chance we have at keeping the community from falling apart, but you're probably already wondering if anything can really put it back together."

He leaned into the camera.

"I have to believe that the answer is _yes._ And if the Sokovia Accords were too much, if Ross is taking advantage or if there was a conflict over their signing, this is the only backup plan I have, so please… you _have_ to make it work. I'm not there anymore to put it into motion, but please, I know you can manage it without me. If you think there's any way you can bear to try again with us, with the world, then step onto your mat at two o'clock EST. Unless you're actually at Stark Tower, in which case ignore any mat you may have gotten and just go to Floor Eighteen. You have to plug this drive into the hole next to the button to get there."

The proud smile on his face at the customized elevator was all the more horrible for the fact that he was calmly discussing what to do if he died over the Accords.

He had _seen it coming,_ and he had still given it a shot, because apparently the probability was the best for that plan. It hadn't worked, he considered it a failure or else the drives never would have been mailed out, that much was obvious.

"So, this part is just for Natasha." The video shifted a little bit, and Tony's tie turned light blue and his eyes got dark circles under them. "Okay, let me be honest, all my cards on the table and all. I have no doubt you'll go along with the Accords, at least at the start. By the time it all falls apart, though, you'll be gone. I don't know where you are, but listen, by the end of all this you're going to be one of the very few people who everyone will grudgingly listen to. That's why I need you, and even if you stab me in the back literally or figuratively, I won't remove you from this protocol. You're one of the most important members."

He cleared his throat, businesslike demeanor gone.

"You know not to get attached. I'm hoping you'll ignore the voice telling you to just get out of here and burn your bridges. Just one more try, Natasha, because this is the last try for any of us. Especially, apparently, for me." He smiled at the camera for just a moment, sad eyes but hopeful smile. "Besides, I made a few new covers for you, details to follow, so you've saved a few weeks there. Maybe use that time to try this out."

Natasha couldn't help but wonder, even at two o'clock on the eastern seaboard as she stepped onto the black mat, just how much he had gambled by doing this.

The Sokovia Accords had gone wrong, and Rhodes couldn't walk, and Tony was in a coma, and half the team was in exile.

What the hell would happen if the Demosthenes Protocol failed?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - So, the character I've had Tony choose may seem a bit, erm, unconventional? Not sure many people have put Darcy Lewis from Thor, Harley Keener from Iron Man 3, Hope Van Dyne from Ant-Man and Matt Murdock from Daredevil in a room led by Tony Stark before. If you don't know who they are: IT'S NOT THAT IMPORTANT. But here's a run-down of the characters, because I'm cute and you should love me and read my stories.**

 **REFERENCE GUIDE FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T HARDCORE MARVEL:**

 **Harley Keener:** **Preteen. Tony broke into his garage during Iron Man 3 to fix his suit. They're best friends almost immediately. Harley is awesome and sees Tony as a father figure.**

 **Dr. Jane Foster:** **Brilliant astrophysicist. Thor's girlfriend. Hosted the Aether (one of the Infinity Stones) in her body for a little bit.**

 **Darcy Lewis:** **Jane's intern, political science major, tased Thor, absolute badass. Had a boyfriend in Thor 2 named Ian Boothby whom I personally headcanon was a Hydra plant.**

 **Matt Murdock:** **Blind lawyer by day, blind superhero Daredevil by night. Only defends innocent clients. Kills evil people. Only like 2 people know his identity, so he's pretty much canonically the best at keeping a secret.**

 **Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym:** **Genius. Founder of Pym Technologies, inventor of the Ant-Man suit. His watchword is "Never Trust A Stark."**

 **Hope Van Dyne:** **Daughter of Hank Pym. In charge of a big weapons and science corporation that used to compete with Tony's. Ant-Man's love interest. Flies another Pym suit, probably going to be called the Wasp in MCU canon. Awesome lady.**

 **Vision/Vizh:** **Red android dude built from the Mind Stone, Helen Cho's cradle and JARVIS. Watch Age of Ultron.**

 **Peter Parker:** **Spider-Man. Teenager. Sassmaster. Watch Civil War if you honestly needed this note, because this story is a post Civil-War fixit!**

 **Natasha Romanoff:** **Kickass secret agent. Awesome hair.**

 **T'Challa:** **King of Wakanda. Black Panther. Watch Civil War, please.**

 **Colonel James Rhodes:** **Tony's BFF from since forever (college). Broke his back in Civil War. That fall totally should have killed him, but okay, Marvel, we'll roll with it.**

 **Pepper Potts:** **Tony's CEO. I'm totally saying that they're 100% broken up for this fanfiction, because that's how it looked in Civil War, but if you squint with Pepperony goggles on you're allowed to pretend.**

 **Dr. Bruce Banner:** **Tony's a huge fan of his work. And the way he loses control and turns into a giant green rage monster.**

 **Director Phil "Agent" Coulson:** **Tony has canonically said his name, like, twice. They still get along. New SHIELD. Will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool on the carpet.**

 **SO IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ALL THESE AMAZING MARVEL MOVIES, THERE'S YOUR REFERENCE GUIDE. NOW FOR THE CHAPTER.**

Hope Van Dyne really considered not stepping onto the mat. In the end, though, her curiosity got the better of her. She wasn't terribly surprised what she found she could stretch the ring at the top up, forming a curtain around her. Headphones were included, and a little note that reminded her to turn off the lights and lock the door when she used the mat.

To her surprise, other people flared up around her. They were in black and white, and there were a few empty spaces, but even as she watched one of those spots was filled with a grainy grayscale image of her father.

"Hello, Hank and Hope." Pepper Potts spoke from somewhere off to her left. The three-dimensional view she was getting was incredible, and she managed to figure out that Pepper was three spaces to her left, at the very end of the semicircle of people. "Just waiting on two more, according to JARVIS."

A young man who was obviously nervous and also obviously underage glanced around at them every few seconds. The only people Hope recognized were the Black Widow and The Vision. Before her eyes, another man flickered to life, this one seated in a wheelchair.

"Colonel Rhodes." Pepper smiled. "Why am I not surprised to find you caught up in this?"

Before he could answer, the last space was filled. "Sorry I'm late." Bruce Banner himself smiled nervously around the semicircle. "I messed up the time change for a minute."

"Ladies and gentlemen." A quiet voice, one they all recognized, filled the room. A flickering image of Tony Stark appeared directly in front of Hope, dressed in a suit and tie, apparently scanning the room. "Either everyone is here at two o'clock on the same day, or it has been more than a week since the first of you appeared and some are still missing. I hope that isn't the case, because I'm afraid I need each and every one of you."

Lights began to appear around him, resolving themselves into a flowing timeline. It stretched over what appeared to be ten or eleven months and had at least twenty layers labelled with different words, such as _Presidential_ and _Legal._

"This is the Demosthenes Protocol," Tony explained. "The endgame is simple, the means to that end nearly impossible. So, first off, let me explain our goal so that some of you can choose to walk out or to listen further. This is the alternative to the Sokovia Accords, as I have already told you, and its mission is to keep us from making mistakes that nearly end the world."

A picture of Ultron appeared beside him, and Bruce visibly winced.

"The Accords put superheroes under the jurisdiction of a political body. It was the most likely to be accepted by the world, but apparently it went wrong. It only had a fifty-seven percent chance anyway, so that's why we're here. With the Demosthenes Protocol, superheroes would be accountable to each other, instead."

She stared at the hologram of a man now lying next to dead in a hospital somewhere. He was the last person she expected to be willing to take orders.

"I'm a damn good example of why this is needed. Obviously we don't hold each other accountable as it is, because the biggest punishment I ever got for Ultron was an even bigger case of PTSD than I already had. Steve gave me half a lecture, and someone talked Thor out of strangling me. That's… pretty much it. If you want another example, one that _isn't_ me, Thor levelled half a town in New Mexico because of a grudge match with his brother and all civil lawsuits mysteriously disappeared. I suspect SHIELD, but I know Clint was involved, maybe he should have made sure the Asgardians cleaned up their own mess." He shrugged. "So, that's why we need something, and it looks like the UN won't be it. We have to somehow convince the world to let us oversee each other, and then actually convince each other to do it."

Hope was surprised, not even because it sounded rational, but because she actually saw her father nodding at something a Stark said.

"So, the question then becomes, how the hell do we get there from here? I don't know exactly where ' _here'_ is, but I have some pretty good guesses, and it's a fucked up place that looks like it's going to stay that way. I'm here to tell you that it isn't." He smiled. "This timeline is everything that needs to be done. If I were alive right now, I would be trying to do half of it all at once, but I'm sorry. I apparently couldn't stay breathing long enough."

Pepper nearly stormed out right then and there, they all saw her stumbling backward, but she ended up just sighing and clenching her fists. Rhodes bowed his head. The youngest kid in the room looked like he might be about to cry, and the teenage already was a little bit.

"Sorry, that was in poor taste, but you know me. Always poor taste. Look, the point is, there are superheroes and geniuses and people with the best organizational skills I've ever seen in this room, and if I can't be around to do it, I'm pretty sure you can. The thing is, you're going to be pulling the strings from behind the scenes, so this is going to be pretty much top secret." The figure's head turned to stare at Phil Coulson. "Some of you are used to that, and some of you aren't. If this gets out, my last backup plan fails instantly. I'll leave you with that and get on to the specifics of what I need you to do first. If anyone decides to leave, that this is just a madman's pipe dream, I won't blame you. Why not? Because I'm dead, silly."

He smiled, waved, and disappeared.

 **A/N - Next chapter will probably be up sometime tomorrow. Oh. Wait. It's 12:20 AM, better make that "sometime today."**

 **Erm. Yes, Holographic Tony is my entire reason for this story. I've said that already, but it bears repeating, because he's only going to get better and more feels-destroying as this story continues.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - I promised a chapter and a chapter you shall have. Have a chapter.**

"If anyone decides to leave, that this is just a madman's pipe dream, I won't blame you. Why not? Because I'm dead, silly."

He smiled, waved, and disappeared.

* * *

Bruce winced at that finally statement, but in another moment, Tony was back. "I don't know who is going to be in this room when all is said and done, so I recorded stuff for everyone I could think of. If you are going to leave, hurry up and do it already, because I'm about to start giving you way too much work and messing up your social, corporate, political or superhero lives."

None of the lights went out. Bruce knew this was, fundamentally, a bad idea for him to stay. He would just get dragged right back into something he wanted no part of.

But, damn it, Tony had _known where he was._ He'd known his address, and never written, and never visited, and never dragged him back to the team. Most people would be mad about that, if anyone had done that to Tony it would have been horrible, but Bruce was just relieved. He had needed his space, and his friend had respected that. Now that same friend was as good as dead, maybe partly because Bruce hadn't been there.

Bruce stayed.

"Natasha." He smiled, and for the first time the figure moved, walking over to the spy and placing himself directly in front of her. "Like I told you on the thumb drive, you're going to be the only person at the end of everything who can contact anyone you want. That means you're going to have to be the one to start pulling the community together, the one to convince them that oversight wouldn't be bad if it was from people we can trust. I have a feeling that Rogers and the rest won't mind as much if it isn't so political and if they get to choose how to run it themselves. In fact, this is the one area where my death will be a problem, because honestly the threat of me doing something dumb would have been a _great_ motivator."

Pepper put her hands over her mouth, but the Tony recording turned and walked over to the young boy next. They exchanged smiles.

"Everyone, this is Harley Keener. He's young, but he's smart, he came up with a great idea for a stealth Iron Man suit that I really should have built before I died. Harley, I need you to be our conscience, okay? While we all get caught up in convincing everyone that we're right, you need to be the one to keep us remembering that it isn't always true, that sometimes we're wrong. The first purpose of this whole thing is to protect the world from us being idiots, so, you need to make sure we actually stop being idiots, okay?"

"Okay," said the boy, and rolled his eyes. "That's gonna be hard," he muttered, and Hope let out a surprised laugh.

Then Tony was back in front of him. "Bruce. I don't really have any zappy things to poke you with, or this is when I'd be doing that."

He smiled when he thought of the Helicarrier, of the single person who hadn't seemed afraid that the Other Guy would make an appearance.

"So, genius, I need you to do all the genius things for the foreseeable future, since I won't be around to get them done." He gestured at the teenager and then at a young woman. "That's Peter Parker, and that's Jane Foster, astrophysicist. Over to your left is Hank Pym. The things we'll all be doing are going to attract attention, and the wrong kind of it. Between the four of you, you should be able to see everything coming. You all have full access to any of my labs whenever you're near one, though Dr. Pym will probably find something scathing to say about each of them. Basically, here's how it is… I've given Pym and Van Dyne the arc reactor schematics, which I know I swore nobody would ever get their hands on, and every single locked file now opens with Bruce's voice. There's a lot of dangerous stuff in there, stuff that I'm trusting you not to sell, not to make unless you need it. There's… stuff in there almost as bad as Ultron, though decidedly less sentient, and it's all there in case you need it."

Weapons. Tony was talking about weapons.

The next words out of his mouth were a total shock. "It's mostly in case you need to stall a certain General Thaddeus Ross. Now, whether you blow him up, fake nuclear testing in North Korea, or give him weapons plans to gain his trust, well, do whatever you have to do. Jane, whenever Thor shows up, get anything you can out of him about what the hell is going on in the universe. Something big is coming, and the Demosthenes Protocol is also to prepare for that. As for what it is, I have no idea, but _something_ is coming." His face was deadly serious.

Bruce found himself believing him.

* * *

 **A/N - For those of you who don't hardcore Avengers, Ross is evil to Bruce, pushed way too hard for the Sokovia Accords, and just generally wants all superheroes thrown in prison. He's also Secretary of State because politics is stupid. He basically does human rights violations on a regular basis.**

 **Hologram!Tony and I reeeeally don't like Ross.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - Matt Murdock has so much wasted potential. I mean, he's a lawyer who only defends the innocent. He's blind. He's a superhero vigilante who kills his targets. The Daredevil movie disappointed me, tbh, I wanted MORE from this well-imagined character.**

Matt Murdock was watching with intense interest. The program Tony had written in this room made every hologram, projection, whatever, crackle. The different shades of grayscale were crackling on difference frequencies. It was impossible, and it was absolutely _brilliant,_ and Matt could practically see the whole room.

Tony seemed to know most of these people personally, but what the hell was _he_ doing here? There was no way Iron Man could know his secret, so was he there for legal advice?

Next, the program rounded on Jane Foster's companion, the young woman on her left who had appeared at the exact same time. "Darcy Lewis, scientist wrangler extraordinaire! I'm sorry we never got to meet, you seem funny and you manage to keep scientists eating and sleeping, you and Pepper really would have gotten along." He moved quickly to Pepper Potts, laying a hand on hers, and moved past her to Hope Van Dyne. "The three of you ladies are the ones to actually run this show. The organizational skills required to run a country or a wayward scientist… or both, Pepper… well, they're nothing compared to this. Because the core of the Demosthenes Protocol requires something astonishingly difficult."

Fidgeting,he apparently decided to just blurt it out.

"We're going to have to influence the upcoming election this fall." He held up a hand to Pepper, who had indeed looked like she was going to say something. "I know how strange that sounds, but it's vital that we have a Congress willing to affirm whatever agreement everyone eventually comes to, and it's equally vital that the President be willing to go along with everything, because a bunch of people are going to need pardoning when this is all over."

Natasha's eyes widened. They all knew who he was talking about, but it was just startling to hear what his plan really was. They had mostly all assumed he was going to leave Steve's team to face the consequences of refusing the Accords, but apparently he had a plan.

"Based on who has already been campaigning, our best chance is probably Governor Morris, the Democrat from Massachusetts. He's pretty popular, already ahead in a lot of polls for the primary, so see what you can do to keep it that way, okay? SI can endorse him on his environmental policies, but I don't know if that would be good press or bad press. Pepper, you know this stuff better than I do. Darcy, make sure these people sleep, would you?"

The girl laughed. "Will do, boss. That's my job anyway."

Finally, Tony turned to Matt. "You're a lawyer. A good one. So, and I say this fully knowing that I have no idea how I died at the time I recorded this, I need to talk to you about the trial."

The trial. It was still in the works, but it was shaping up to be a doozy.

"Mister Murdock, I don't know who has been accused, I don't know if they're missing or if they're going to turn themselves in, and I certainly don't know if it was personal." His voice was reassuringly steady. "Get them off."

"What?" He forgot he was talking to a recording for a moment, and blurted out the word at the same time as Pepper and Rhodes.

Tony's projection shrugged. "Erm, I know that was a bit sudden, but you can see the necessity, given that all these different sides are going to have to work together?" He stuck his hands into his pockets. "It feels strange to be talking about my murder like that, but I've set my helmet camera footage to only respond to you, so you'll be able to see whatever happened but nobody else will. Anything that actually has to do with my murder gets deleted. If you can't do that in good conscience, JARVIS is going to do it anyway. I don't care how I died, how bloody it was, whether it was in cold blood. The prosecution will take the massive media coverage and press for the death penalty, and _that isn't happening,_ okay? This is a PR stunt for us."

"That's true," Matt told Pepper, who was fuming. "I mean, obviously this isn't going to be a murder trial, but it _is_ going to be publicized like all get out. If they got a guilty verdict, it would convince a lot of people that Rogers and Barnes were irredeemable supervillains."

He pretended not to notice her muttering, "Maybe they are."

"Rhodey." Tony turned to the wheelchair-bound colonel. "Hey, man, I edited this recording the other day. Originally I was going to activate the Demosthenes Protocol after the airport battle, but the army angle was getting in the way of all the projections. I'm glad you're here, though. Don't worry, I'm not asking you to go directly up against the army. But listen, you speaking out in support of this shit will give it a lot of credibility, especially if you could, you know, be civil to Rogers and his group. I know that's going to be hard for you, especially considering that I'm dead and all and you're probably pissed as hell, but… it's really important. Getting mad at them won't change anything that happened, but extending an olive branch might save the world. I know I wasn't great at that when I was alive, but I'm really trying over here."

Pepper looked ready to punch the projection. So did Rhodes. Hell, so did Natasha Romanoff, although Matt couldn't begin to guess her reasons.

"I have to ask you all to do something you aren't going to like." Tony bowed his head slightly and winced. "I'm going to have to ask you to hang up your superhero suits for a few months. And yes, I know how horrible that sounds, considering that all you do is protect people. The reason I'm asking is that we need to get the government realizing that they actually do need us, that we fix more messes than we make. I need the papers asking _where are they and when are they coming back?_ Right now all people are asking is _what are these idiots doing?_ That goes for certain people in this room specifically."

A pop-up window appeared in front of Matt.

 _Yes, I'm talking to_ you, _Daredevil. Yes, I've known for a while. You're like two minutes from my tower by suit, did you think I'd never notice? :)_

A shock ran through him. Tony Stark had somehow discovered his secret. Jeez. At least he apparently hadn't told anyone, which was… not that surprising, considering what he was learning about the man from this whole recording.

A few spaces away, Peter was frowning, but finally his shoulders slumped. Now _that_ was interesting, and Matt already had his suspicions, but it didn't really matter considering whatever superhero he actually was would be disappearing quite soon.

"Vizh, first of all, I know you're probably seeing Wanda still." The recording actually smiled at that, a really happy smile that looked nothing like the press photos. "That's cute, I don't want to interfere in that, just… if you can ask her not to read your mind about this, please do. I have a feeling you and Harley are going to get along pretty well, by the way. You're both going to keep us on track, I'm sure of that. If, by some miracle, you ever hear from Wanda that someone agrees with the ideas we're going to be floating around anonymously, bring them into the Protocol as soon as you possibly can. It takes a vote of more than half of you all to bring someone new in, a safety protocol, because remember how important it is to stop anyone from finding out it's us behind all this. If anyone realized _I_ was involved… I mean, just imagine it."

He could, and it wouldn't be good. The media tended to turn anything Tony Stark did inside out and burn it a dozen different ways before he picked up the scraps and showed them that they didn't know him at all. They couldn't afford the blow if this was going to work.

Damn it, he was already thinking of this long-term. He was _hooked._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Have some Jane Foster and monologuing Stark hologram. :)**

 **I am sorry about the weird chapter lengths. Like I said, this was kind of a writing binge, and I wasn't keeping track of word count with each scene, so this is like twice as long as most of them. Oh well.**

Jane Foster was getting excited. She could actually read some of Stark's notes and things, she had access to all his ideas, and best of all she had a bunch of other scientists from different fields around her. With Hank Pym, Bruce Banner, and Tony Stark's notes, who knew what they could do for the world?

Who knew what they would _need_ to do? There were three acclaimed scientists in this room, seemingly for no other reason than "to Science the shit out of everything," as Darcy liked to say. Tony certainly knew a lot of smart people, but their only purpose in the Demosthenes Protocol was to make sure nobody got attacked and died while they were carrying it out.

On the other hand, it certainly would help to have the group (and hopefully the whole superhero community, someday) united by virtue of all the scientists working together.

Maybe that was the point.

"Agent Agent… well, I suppose it's Director Agent now." He smiled at Coulson, who smiled back, a sad smile. "I really have no idea what SHIELD's stance on this whole thing is, but on the bright side, we're more likely to listen to you under Demosthenes than Sokovia, am I right? Technically, you could still be in the chain of oversight, since you're so closely affiliated with superheroes. The whole point of this is to listen to people we trust, not faceless government bodies. Last time we listened to a group of faceless people, Rogers crashed three Helicarriers into the Potomac and Hydra came back, so… just… whoever we end up reporting to, make sure they're people with faces, people we know _personally,_ people we _trust._ I would have followed you in a heartbeat, rather than the UN. And, uh, sorry about dying. I know you tend to tell us not to do that. But in my defense, I really didn't do it on purpose?"

Wasn't Captain America this guy's idol? She'd heard something to that effect from Thor when he eventually explained the whole New York thing.

That _had_ to be awkward.

"Also, Director Agent, no fair stealing anyone's research," she called across the room, and received a slightly less sad smile in return. What she didn't get was a promise, so she rolled her eyes and resolved to make sure everything had passwords on it.

"So, uh, King T'Challa, I've edited you into this now, for reference I'm actually on my way to Siberia right now. You'll find out about why the hell I'm going there eventually. I have no idea what your actual stance on the Accords is. I kind of get the feeling this has been more of a personal thing for you, so once Barnes has been… caught? Cleared? Hidden away by Rogers?" He shrugged. "I don't know what side you're going to end up on, and it doesn't really matter, because I'm hoping everyone will end up on the same side again in the end. Obviously you're here because you're the leader of an advanced country, and if you don't mind me saying so, not a bad public speaker from the videos I've seen. Whatever the new plan is when this is all over, eventually it's going to need international support."

He winced and added a final sentence before he turned back to the whole room.

"Politicians don't like me."

Pepper snorted and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Well if you'd stop sleeping with their wives, Tony…"

"All right, look, everything." He closed his eyes, seemed to gather himself. "The Demosthenes Protocol has four distinct phases. Phase One is a bit of a defensive move. All the superheroes disappear, and we work on some very important things. Number one is getting Ross fired. Yeah, that's… pretty damn important, if we're ever going to get rid of the nooses around everyone's necks. If I got hanged, by the way, I'm sorry and that pun was not intentional. Number two is getting Rogers to look at us without punching someone. Number three is stopping the inevitable Ross breakdown and attempt to either take over the world or murder us all."

Jane raised her eyebrows, but the man probably knew what he was talking about. She saw Bruce nod in agreement and _really_ needed the story of how insane the general actually was.

"Phase Two is the election, and, well, everything leading up to the election. Hopefully the fighting will be over by then, but if they overlap, shit happens. Get the candidates to talk about an alternative to the Accords, get them to use the phrase "accountability to their peers" instead of talking about various organizations. Get my name smeared in the mud if you have to, and I'm pretty sure you're going to have to. Matt Murdock! You don't know me, and you're good at debate. Some anonymous essays criticizing the way I went about things, maybe get them quoted by some politicians? I'm serious, this was the plan even if I survived. Of course, eventually I was going to miraculously come out in support of the idea, talk publicly about it… but I do have some videos recorded to that effect for if the time comes." He shrugged.

He honestly sounded excited about the prospect of using himself as a temporary scapegoat. He was, sadly, probably used to it.

Well, this was pretty much the ultimate scapegoat play. Die, then afterwards tell people over recording to use you as a punching back for PR. She rolled her eyes.

"Phase Two also requires actually convincing the other Avengers and various superheroes that this is a better idea than being fugitives, and making sure the president is willing to offer pardons to those who go along with it. An international superhero conference, maybe, held in a country that doesn't thing Rogers' gang are evil? Get some things down on paper. Pepper, go with, get some nice quotes and make sure the whole thing isn't fifteen feet thick like the Accords were. This is supposed to be more of a set of guidelines than an international law, and make sure everyone knows it. The Sokovia Accords were rigid. Apparently, they couldn't happen because of that. The Demosthenes Protocol needs to allow as much flexibility as you can get politicians to grudgingly accept." He smirked.

Then the timeline fast-forwarded to after the inauguration, around March and April.

"Get signatures, get the United States to refuse the Sokovia Accords, and most of all, make sure by this point regular people are burning their copies in the streets. If they're burning me in effigy, too, that's cool. I'd rather they were burning Ross, of course, but whatever." Again with the scapegoat jokes. "Don't have the president promise pardons to those who sign, that will just make Rogers and crew think they're being bribed and regard the whole thing with suspicion. Instead, get a few of them to sign it, then get public opinion circulating that they should be pardoned, and _then_ have it get done. Hopefully it's President Morris, because if he fucks everything up somehow, I have no idea who else would be willing to hold off and then change tracks so quickly. Just convince him it'll boost his ratings, because honestly it probably will."

A map of the world popped up on the timeline around June.

"Phase Four is international support. By the end of next year, I'm hoping we can have the United Nations deciding the Accords are junk and they need to use this plan instead. I know that's ambitious as all hell, but hopefully by then there will be closer to two dozen podiums in this room. You'll have backup if we can get past Phase Two, and plenty of it. Superheroes are going to come out of the woodwork once the United States isn't declaring them slaves of the UN anymore."

Suddenly, he sat down cross-legged on the 'floor,' and looked around at each of them in turn with a pained look on his face.

"Truth is, I've died and left you all with a hell of a mess to clean up. And mostly it's my mess, because I guessed wrong about the Accords. Any number of things could have fucked it up, I was hoping to convince Cap that we could work with the document, make it better, but I guess something rushed us and we couldn't compromise fast enough. One of us got stubborn, maybe, or aliens invaded the world, or Ross killed a man. I dunno." The image flickered, and suddenly he was standing again. "So, I'm editing this, and I'm almost certain it's going to be used now. Before it was just a contingency plan, a worst-case scenario. Now Rogers won't listen to me for even a minute, because his best friend is constantly in danger and being chased around the world, and they're both wanted, and I'm supposed to bring them in and God this is just a _mess_!" He practically shouted the last word.

They all knew how this ended, but it was surreal to see things from Tony's point of view.

"Truth is, I almost went Demosthenes on him right there and then, but I don't think he'll even hear anything that comes out of my mouth right now. I considered telling Natasha about it now, too, but that won't really help, he won't listen to her either." He sighed, long and low. "I'm going to have to wait until Rogers realizes he's going to still be a wanted fugitive, and I'm going to have wait until the politicians of the world realize they need superheroes. By then, I can already tell, it's going to be _far_ too late. The Demosthenes Protocol is going to happen, I can see that clearly now, and I suspect it's going to be this recording talking to you."

Pepper was crying, she sensibly hadn't worn makeup to this, and so was the teenager, Peter Parker, the one Tony had said was good at science.

"So, listen up, because I'm only going to say this as many times as you replay this recording. If I were there, you know I'd be throwing myself into this with everything I had, including my abrasive attitude. Honestly, this might even work better without me." He winced. "Not that I'm glad I somehow got myself killed, but hey, silver lining right? But this isn't going to work unless every single one of you puts your whole self into this last chance, and I'm serious. I know some of you have companies to run, so delegate everything you possibly can. I know some of you have school, so quit your science clubs, because hey you're gonna have access to my labs anyway, and those are way cooler. I know some of you have love lives, I'm quite impressed, but anyone who is dating someone in this business knows that sometimes saving the world has to take priority. And I know some of you have people you care about on both sides, so let's get this done so you can see them without sneaking off to foreign countries, cool?"

He took a deep breath, and then suddenly his image shifted again. He was in the Iron Man armor, he had a killer black eye, he had blood on his face and he looked exhausted.

"I want you to know, as of right now I'm still alive, just got to Siberia, still believe in Demosthenes. After we deal with the Winter Soldier problem, I'm going to try to casually bring it up with Rogers, actually maybe wait a couple days until he gets Barnes stashed somewhere. It's looking like we might all come out of this without hating each other after all, which would probably be a miracle. The last obstacle is right here. Maybe I can even help Rogers break everyone out of the Raft without Ross realizing I was involved. He'd probably appreciate that."

Then there was a different Tony yet again, a Tony in sweatpants and a t-shirt covered in grease, obviously having just asked JARVIS to record.

"So, Ross just handed me this," he thumped a copy of the Accords down on the table. "It must be at least an inch thick, and yet it's at least an inch of pure _rubbish._ This won't solve the problems it says it will, it'll just put superheroes under the thumb of more faceless people with their own agendas, and man am I pissed off."

He shrugged and started tinkering with his suit.

"Look, I can do so much better than this. I'll run some probabilities, but I doubt I can convince anyone of anything here, with my track record and all." He shrugged. "I'd have to be like one of those famous speechmakers in Greece. JARVIS, name me one of those guys."

The robotic voice drifted across, tinny and a bit distorted, going through two recordings. "Sir, the most powerful Greek orator is generally considered to have been Demosthenes."

 **A/N - The reason for the name of this Protocol has been revealed. (The ACTUAL reason I called it that was because I've read Ender's Game and I really liked the idea of Demosthenes and Locke.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - STEVE. And Rhodey and DARCY, but... STEVE. AWKWARD GUILTY STEVE.**

Steve wasn't sure what he was expecting when T'Challa said a lawyer from New York City wanted to talk to him. He certainly wasn't expecting the words he heard. "What?"

"I said, Mister Stark said if he ended up getting hurt during the whole thing over the Accords, that he wanted me to represent whoever got accused." A hesitation. "Captain Rogers, I'm generally considered a very good lawyer."

"Is this… normal?" Steve really couldn't think of anything else to say. Tony had apparently taken the precaution of hiring a lawyer for his _potential opponents._

Another pause. "Absolutely not. Let's be honest, though, when has anything surrounding you people been normal? If you want another lawyer, that's all right, but I-"

"Hey, is that Murdock on the phone?" Natasha slipped in the window, a bag over her shoulder. They had all learned not to question her random appearances and disappearances. "Say yes, he's good. Real good. And he's serious about being hired in advance."

His eyes widened. He had been planning to just let them use some public defender, it wasn't like he was planning to deny anything. Hell, he'd call them from a burner phone and plead guilty if that was allowed. It was his fault Stark was in a probably permanent coma.

"This is PR, Rogers, and Tony knew that in advance." She had a little crease between her eyes that was the closest she got to a frown. "If you're found guilty, or plead guilty, everyone sees all of us as guilty parties. And it still won't raise their estimation of Stark at all. On the other hand, if you're innocent, or if it was self-defense, you're still the amazing Captain America, and you still have some clout with the public. Trust me, you need that. We all do."

"Mister Murdock, are you still there?" He wandered out of the room to get away from Natasha's stare. This was an unexpected turn of events, and how the hell had she known who was on the phone? "I don't mind you representing me. You seem like you know what you're doing, and if that's what Stark wanted, I'll respect that."

He heard a tiny sigh of relief. "Great. That's great. Nice to meet you, Captain Rogers. I'd better get to work drafting an opening statement." Without so much as a goodbye, he hung up.

Things were getting stranger. Since he had woken up, no, since he had volunteered for the supersoldier program things had been getting progressively stranger. Now a friend he had nearly killed was apparently sending him lawyers from beyond the grave.

Unfortunately, he had a feeling things weren't about to settle down any time soon.

* * *

Rhodey was pacing. In a wheelchair. It took some skill with the turns, but he was pretty good at it after the whole Demosthenes thing.

It was just like Tony to throw himself under the bus, then ask them to throw him under another one. _Damn_ the man, why couldn't he just stop being a self-sacrificing git? Asking him to ignore the fact that Rogers had put him in a coma, maybe one he'd never wake up from, and then telling Murdock to smear his name with mud if it would get good PR?

 _Fuck._ He was so tired of that man's lack of self-worth, and yet he was one of the only ones, because damn it, it _worked every time._ Throwing himself on the proverbial wire, every single damn time, and making the public believe he was somehow doing it for himself with his mask of arrogance. Well, screw that, screw the whole thing, he wasn't going to be _civil_ to Rogers and Barnes, he was going to beat their heads in!

"James." Pepper was watching him pace up and down the hallway. They had been two of the three people actually physically present in the Tower for the insanity that had been the holographic conference call, the third being Peter Parker. "He was right about one thing. Going after them won't bring him back."

Damn it, it wouldn't, but "It'll show them they were wrong."

"They know that." She held up a hand to forestall his retort. "Natasha and Matt Murdock said Rogers was going to plead guilty to whatever charges they decided to stick him with. Even if it carried the death penalty. He only backed down when he heard Stark had specifically sent a lawyer to defend anyone who killed him."

"I think he should do it," the colonel snorted. "I mean, I liked the part about dragging Ross across live coals, but for God's sake, why does he think we should keep on using him as a scapegoat even when he's…" he trailed off, resisting the urge to punch a wall.

Pepper sighed. She'd been crying again, her eyes were red. He wondered if she'd be able to wear mascara again until the whole thing was over. "Because it works so well, and he knows it. We'll avoid it if we possibly can. He doesn't deserve it, but people eat it up." She groaned.

"Love to hate Tony Stark," he agreed. "At this point the media should have t-shirts for it. And he should have one himself," he added under his breath.

She heard him and winced. "Look, I'm not saying I don't hate Rogers and want to hit him with a shovel. What I'm saying is… I'm just not willing to look at Tony's big project, the thing he thought would make up for any mistakes he made with the Accords, and throw it away because punching Rogers in public would make me feel better."

Well when she put it like _that,_ he felt like a jerk. She was right, though, all getting into a fight with Rogers would do would be to make him feel better and to ruin Tony's whole plan.

"We'll find Rogers and Barnes eventually," she said, "and when that happens, I'm going to carefully never say the words _I forgive you._ And I'm going to hope they see the anger in my eyes. And then I'm going to smile at them and play nice for the damn cameras and wish Tony had never met Steve. And when all this is over, _then_ I'll punch him in the face."

That sounded good to him.

* * *

It seemed like Natasha was always in the 'Demo Room,' as they had begun to call it in front of other people. She never came in person, mostly because she didn't actually need to _be_ there to do her part, but every time Darcy walked in, she was there.

"JARVIS, do I have to worry about Romanoff's sleeping schedule?" She had a bad habit of looking at the ceiling when she spoke, even though she had no idea where JARVIS actually 'was' in the Tower.

"Miss Lewis, Agent Romanoff has always tended to sleep for short periods more often than other people. It seems to be a learned behavior, but she does get six to eight hours of sleep per twenty-four hour period," the AI replied. "If I might suggest it, you may want to focus your efforts on Miss Potts, Director Coulson or Dr. Foster."

"Oh, of _course,_ Jane isn't sleeping." Darcy groaned. "She has Candyland over here, why would she ever want to leave the labs? God forbid she become _mortal_ and require _sleep_."

She knew exactly what Jane was doing, too, and it probably wasn't astrophysicist stuff. She was looking at all the data from that portal that had opened here way back in the day.

It was _weird,_ she was finally in the famous Tower, and she had never actually managed to meet Tony Stark before everything happened. Maybe she should have come to meet Thor's team back when it was still in one piece, but Jane had seriously needed her.

"And yet," she muttered to herself, "somehow I got on the secret list for the secret project that nobody is ever supposed to know about, without ever directly meeting anyone on the thing except Jane." She rolled her eyes.

"If I may, Miss Lewis," she nearly jumped, having forgotten about JARVIS again, "I believe your inclusion in the Protocol was added after Thor wouldn't stop talking about the battle against Malekith and the fact that several of you insisted on rushing into danger despite having no powers or training. He added the three of you to the Protocol immediately, though he later-"

"Removed 'Hydra scum traitor boyfriend man?' Yeah, I assumed." The whole incident with Ian after SHIELD had fallen had been annoying, to say the least. Maybe to someone with a little less tolerance for weirdness it would have been traumatizing.

Yeah, maybe thoughts like _that_ were why she was on the list.

"Janie!" She poked her head into the lab. "I know you love the energy signatures you're getting off that thing, but you need to have a sandwich and some sleep time!"

"They look _familiar,_ Darce, they _feel_ right." Jane was staring at the various screens, none of which meant anything to the political science major, and almost wouldn't be dragged away.

 _Almost._

 **A/N - I promise I will not keep guilty Steve for the whole story. Well, I don't promise that, actually... but I promise he will at least get fun as well as guilty. So there's that.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - PHIL "AGENT" COULSON IS IMPORTANT TO ME.**

They were ahead of schedule, and nobody was more surprised than Projection-Tony. "Whoa, so, I recorded this message for the extremely unlikely event that things are getting done _faster_ than anticipated. There's like a two and a half percent chance of that, so meh, but if this is actually getting played, _are you all running off pure caffeine?_ " It was a brief conversation with the man, like all the other recorded messages, one-sided yet amusing.

Phil honestly lived for them.

It was just amazing to watch how the messages changed. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but as the weeks progressed, the recorded inventor started to refer to people differently. It started with their title or last name only, and he of course was Director Agent. Then it started progressing to nicknames.

That was amusing in its own right. The first time he called Hope Van Dyne "Wasp" instead of her name, she responded without thinking and then got a little crease between her eyes and glanced in confusion at her father. Apparently that had only become her alias a few days prior.

Darcy Lewis became"Taser Girl." She looked proud of it. Peter Parker was just "kid genius" from the start, which left "mini-me" for Harley Keener. Hank Pym became "Bug Man Senior" or just "Elder Bug." T'Challa was, of course, "King Kitty."

Nobody really minded it. There were a few chuckles, and every time more than two of them laughed, Tony would join in. Any time someone was there to work, Tony was there keeping them company, letting them talk at him and bounce ideas off him. Sometimes, JARVIS would use the interface to make quick comments in response, in Tony's voice, with Tony's mannerisms. The pre-recorded responses, though, were even better.

The day Matt Murdock prepared to bring a lawsuit against Ross for violating the right of _habeus corpus,_ Tony called him by his first name. "So, Matt, you all psyched up for this?"

"Absolutely," the blind lawyer replied.

"Excellent, because Ross has had it coming for a very long time." Across the room, Bruce silently nodded agreement.

From that day on, Matt was just "Matt." Not long afterward, "Taser Girl" transitioned to "Darce" or "Darcy," and then it was a free-for-all.

Eventually, he tossed out over his shoulder, "See you tomorrow, right, Phil?"

"See you tomorrow, Tony," he replied with a grin. It took him until three minutes later to realize that it was the second time in his life he'd heard Tony call him that, and the first time it had been to ask, " _Phil? Excuse me, his first name is 'Agent.'"_

He'd waited until after he was comatose to actually call Phil by his name. The director was just vaguely glad that it had happened.

Tony started calling Pepper by the name "Pep" and Rhodes by "Rhodey" or sometimes "sweetheart." When Phil asked JARVIS how many hours of footage he had recorded, the answer was in the triple digits. It was JARVIS, mostly, who chose when to play a clip, but they were pretty self-explanatory.

Bruce fell asleep in the Demo Room and Tony had a whole speech for him about how he appreciated the effort but Bruce had to remember to take care of himself. It was more affectionate than Phil had ever seen him, but it really wasn't a stretch.

Then Tony called Pym "Uncle Hank" and the man just froze. Tony blinked and after a moment quietly asked, "Not good?"

"It's…" Pym hesitated. "It's fine, actually." He smiled slightly and went back to his work.

Phil had a feeling the grin on Tony's face had been recorded specifically for that moment and programmed into JARVIS to play then.

Eventually they were all on a first-name basis with each other. If a recording could do it, they sure as hell could. A couple of them, Peter and Darcy mostly, picked up on "Uncle Hank."

Hope started calling her father "Dad" constantly, and Phil got the feeling that was a new development. Natasha became "Nat" to everyone, and Darcy, "Darce."

"You know who I am, right?" One day only Peter and Phil were in the lab. "Being the director of SHIELD and all, I imagine you would…"

Tony turned toward them and grinned. "Oh, I'm so glad I get to watch this." He hopped up onto a table by the door, 'sitting' over a book that passed right through his 'body.'

"Erm? Peter Parker." Phil frowned. "Is there something else you go by?" He already suspected that the kid was a superhero or a mutant or _something,_ but he'd figured he wasn't actually well-known.

"Um… well, yeah. I guess you didn't." Almost automatically, Peter turned to Tony, who gave him a thumbs-up. "Part-time vigilante? Ever heard of me? Spider-Man?"

He nearly spit out his coffee. "That explains _quite_ a lot." He'd seen the costumed superhero on video footage of the airport battle, but it hadn't had any audio or even the comm chatter, so he hadn't realized just how young the kid was. "Congratulations, you managed to go incognito for months around the director of the world's best intelligence agency."

"You know," mused Tony, "I never have understood why they call it an _intelligence agency._ I mean, if anything, this room is an intelligence agency. This room has a lot of intelligence, right J?"

Phil's eyebrows rose. "JARVIS, where the hell is that audio from?"

"One of Sir's lab sessions. He has had me record audio from several of them so he knows what he was thinking the next day, and he authorized them to be used for the Demosthenes Protocol at the very beginning, Director Coulson."

"JARVIS, if he can call me 'Phil,' _you_ can call me 'Phil,'" he muttered. "Damn, I keep thinking he's actually…" he shook his head.

The AI hesitated. "Sir informed me that I should terminate the 'small talk' protocol for anyone whom it made uncomfortable. Do you wish me to-"

"No, no, keep it on," he said, maybe a little too hastily. "It's good for concentration to have someone to bounce ideas off when I'm in here alone," he explained.

Maybe that wasn't _entirely_ it, but it was close enough.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N - Honestly I consider Vision/Wanda canon. I don't really care about the ship, but I'm pretty sure it's canon, so I include it where applicable.**

Vision eventually said words nobody was expecting to hear, during one of his rare physical visits to the tower. "Captain Rogers found the video clip where the Belgian Prime Minister endorsed our idea online."

"What did he _say?_ " Tony rocketed to his feet from where he had been sitting in lotus position on the floor. "Does he like it? Does he hate it?"

"Spill, Vizh, what's the story?" Darcy snapped her gum. She was already grinning, the look on Vision's face telling her everything she needed to know.

He smiled. "According to Wanda, he got very excited at the idea and asked her whether she thought it would make matters better or worse if he wrote to the Prime Minister to ask him more about the details."

Tony punched the air. " _Yes!"_ He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Oh, hell yes, Rogers it is _so on_ now. Phase Two, Phase Two everybody!"

For a minute they all got caught up in his excitement as he reviewed the whole plan for Phase Two rapidly and happily. Eventually, though, his smile fell a little bit.

"Matt, you did great with Ross. Is the other trial going any better?" He looked equal parts hopeful and resigned, and the mood in the room died in an instant.

The lawyer sighed. "I can get you a hung jury."

"Hung jury?" Tony frowned. "Drags the case out, too much bad press… isn't there any other angle you can play? Self-defense, maybe?"

A groan. "Tony, for the last time, we're not doing that to you. You may have attacked Barnes first, but they had no actual right to do that to you. We can see it on the helmet footage. You were down when Barnes destroyed the arc reactor, you couldn't do anything. After that, it wasn't self-defense anymore. It was them kicking your ass because they were seeing red."

Quietly, Tony just said, "You need to try."

"Damn it, Tony, there's no way you programmed a response for that particular response!" Matt clenched his fists. "You aren't in a coma because of _self-defense,_ you're in a coma because you went to help and they almost killed you!"

"In the event that Murdock, for some reason, refuses to use the self-defense argument when it might actually work." Tony adjusted his position. "Listen, Matt. We can't lose this trial. You know it isn't going to hurt my image any more than this whole thing already has, it's just that you don't want to drag my name through the mud, right? Well, I appreciate that, I really do. The fact is, though, that the Demosthenes Protocol is a lot more important to me than my image. The media can only do so much to a scapegoat, but they can do twice that much to two. Don't drag anyone down with me, Matt, not when I'm already dead."

His face softened.

"I know how much you try to get justice. Sometimes even revenge." He raised one eyebrow. Then a picture of the original Avengers appeared behind him. "The truth is, though, that I don't even _want_ revenge in this case. I just don't want to lose a friend, okay? I just want you to save someone that I, no matter _what_ happened, still consider a friend. Just save them for me."

Matt's eyes went wide. He took two paces back, carefully not bumping into a table, then turned and stormed out of the room.

Hank Pym put his holographic hand on Tony's holographic shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be back. The idea of you still considering Steve a friend is just… I don't know what it is to him."

"I don't know what's happening, you all know that, but I have a feeling he would like the Tony Stark from ten years ago better."

"I think he'd kill you, actually," commented Hope carefully.

Tony laughed. After a few seconds of hesitation, the rest joined in. That laugh, recorded or not, was infectious as all hell.

"Back to the question of Phase Two," Vizh said slowly, "Wanda also enjoys the idea, though she is wary to trust it so quickly without knowing if it's going to turn out like the Accords."

Tony's program flickered and disappeared, reappearing in the center of the room. Automatically, they all scrambled to their podiums, but Tony merely beckoned Vision over and had him pull up a tile in the center of the room. Beneath it were several more black mats.

"If Wanda is suspicious of the motives behind Demosthenes, maybe it's finally time she saw them for herself," he said, and Vizh smiled. "But no flirting while you're in here, okay?"

"Oh, we're not allowed to flirt in here?" Dacy frowned. "Well, isn't _that_ disappointing, there goes my idea for date night in the secret control room."

And there went that laugh again.

* * *

Wanda Maximoff appeared on a pad next to Vizh's the next day at precisely two o'clock. The whole crew, minus Matt Murdock, was waiting for her, in person or as holograms. That included Tony. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw him. "Are you…"

"Real? Nope." He shook his head immediately. "I'm a pre-recorded set of responses that are programmed to respond to specific stimuli, or when JARVIS thinks it's something I would say."

She just stared at him until the actual welcome program started running.

"Miss Maximoff, welcome. The Demosthenes Protocol was, unfortunately, activated by my death, combined with the Accords being generally accepted as a failure." His face darkened, but he made a conscious effort to smile. "If you're here, it's because you either wholeheartedly agreed with the idea behind it or liked it but were suspicious of the people behind it. Well, I don't know if knowing _I'm_ behind it really sets your mind at ease, but I think knowing Vizh is should help."

"What idea?" Her face was closed off as she scanned the room, casting confused glances at those she didn't know, especially Harley.

Tony smiled and bowed. "The Demosthenes Protocol is an alternative to the Sokovia Accords, unlikely to be accepted unless the Accords fail first. It is based on the idea that _we_ are the best oversight for each other, that superheroes could keep each _other_ in line."

Her eyes widened. "The Prime Minister of Belgium!"

"The Prime Minister," Pepper explained, "was contacted by many of his citizens lately over the idea, which we spread through the country on an email publicity campaign. We figured it was better to start overseas, so that American politicians felt like they had a precedent."

The timeline appeared in the center of the room, and Tony ran through what they had done so far. He even included Matt's legal timeline, though he didn't explain what had happened the previous day beyond, "He doesn't want to play the self-defense angle. I do."

"You're…" if her eyes could have gotten any wider, they would have. "You're campaigning for politicians, you removed Ross, you're attempting to prove the captain innocent, and all of these other lines… and it's all working?"

"Not all of it," Hank corrected her. "Matt stormed out yesterday, Morris is only at second in the primaries, and Jane locked herself in her lab for two weeks straight but still can't figure out what might be coming."

She stared. "Coming? Is something coming?"

"Tony Stark is a paranoid man," Pepper said, nearly biting her tongue when she used the present tense as easily as breathing, "but if he says a new enemy is coming, he's not lying, and that's exactly what he said. His entire explanation had to do with Loki acting crazier than usual and why the hell he had an alien army, but I'm not going to question it."

Slowly, Wanda nodded. Glancing at Vizh, she asked the holographic genius, "So… what exactly do you need me to do, Mister Stark?"

He grinned at her. "Oh, there is _plenty_ to do, Miss Maximoff. You could help Natasha feel out how our friends in exile feel about the new idea circulating. You could help us write anonymous essays defending the idea. You could help us write the damn thing, of course, and eventually help us bring in the others, especially Rogers. We kind of really need him."

"Remember," Natasha said calmly, "he isn't programmed knowing who kills him. Most of his responses don't take that into account, so when he says we need Rogers… he means it."

She nodded, still wide-eyed. "I would like to help," she decided. "I will bring the idea up to different members of the team. I will…" she tapped her head, " _see what they think."_

"Was that a joke? From Wanda? Already?" Tony smirked. "Good to have you on the team, Miss Maximoff. You're welcome to visit us in person, whenever you can, er, manage it."

"Ah, yes, let me just book a ticket to New York," she replied, and they both laughed. It wasn't even a second later that the whole room was chuckling.

Tony's hologram laughed a lot more than he had.

It was nice.

 **A/N - Hologram Tony is cute...**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N - Since most Marvel movies tend to advertise future ones, have a plug for Infinity War and then have some more Matt Murdock**

 **P.S. I watched a few episodes of the TV show Daredevil and yeah I liked it better than the movie but I only care about Matt and Claire**

Jane Foster was having a terrifying epiphany, at it was all Darcy's fault. She was looking at readings from the portal again, she just couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from it.

"This is just… it _feels_ like I know it." She groaned. "Darcy, what _is_ it?"

Darcy just shrugged. She was reading over a senator's speech, trying to decide if it was worth having the Rising Tide hack the teleprompter to put through a slightly revised version. "Jane, come on, if you'd seen it before I think you would know. How many weird glowing space things do we even run into?" She laughed. "Besides _all of them_."

She stopped laughing when she realized the astrophysicist was staring at her, open-mouthed. "Oh, come on, don't tell me this reminds you of _another_ space-thing."

"Oh my gosh," she whispered, and took off running for the Demo Room. Hank Pym and Tony were talking about the arc reactor when she burst in.

"Jane, what is it?" Tony turned to her, eyes wide, and Hank just stood there blinking.

She nearly screamed the words. "The _Aether!_ Loki's scepter, the Aether, the Tesseract… they all have similar strange readings. Do you know what the odds are of _all_ the glowing things we know having the same weirdness? Infinitesimal! Inconceivable!"

"Impossible," Tony agreed. "So what does it mean?"

Jane hesitated. "It's like they're all being _put_ here, assembled as it were. Meanwhile, I've heard Thor's father sent the Aether far away… Asgard doesn't want them to be assembled." She looked up with sparkling eyes. "Whoever or whatever is coming, it wants all of these things in the same place. Maybe they're like puzzle pieces? Or they're all needed for some ritual?"

"Great job, Jane." Tony grinned. "So, we need to figure out what the thing in Vizh's forehead does. He's already working on that, maybe it's time you two teamed up."

"Of course he has a recording for that," said Darcy from the doorway. "Of _course_ he recorded something specifically for if that stone came into play."

"Well, it _is_ a glowing stone that used to put people under Loki's control and now is embedded in Vizh's forehead. I think it's a perfectly reasonable thing to be curious and slightly nervous about," said Hank.

Darcy just rolled her eyes. "Well, when you put it _that_ way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to call a hacker about a teleprompter."

Matt clutched his braille charm in his left hand and his folder of notes in his right. The courtroom was loud, and it was about to get louder. He completed his opening statement with the words he had so desperately hoped not to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I will prove that Mister Stark attacked my client with intent to kill, and that any injuries Captain Rogers may have inflicted were entirely in self-defense."

There was certainly an ear-splitting uproar.

He should have told Tony, the holographic Tony, that he only defended the innocent. He could have walked away and… and what? Left Captain Rogers to a highly paid corporate lawyer that Pepper would convince to defend him, and leave people speculating that they were sleeping together, probably. Or else leave him to plead guilty through a poorly paid public defender, knowing that he was costing Tony someone he considered a friend.

"Hi, Matt." He appeared in the Demo Room to find only Tony there. "How is everything going for Phase Two?"

This Protocol would be the death of him. "Are you happy now, you- you arrogant, self-sacrificing, manipulative son-of-a-bitch with a martyr complex for your public image?"

Surprisingly, despite the fact that Tony always seemed to have a comeback for everything, he just smiled this time. "Did you know that the first time I met Steve we nearly punched each other in the face? A few hours later he was saving my life. We always clashed, but there's nobody I'd rather have at my side in a fight, or leading a team I was on."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew he killed you," Matt muttered.

"Mister Murdock," JARVIS said solemnly, "that response was programmed under the _assumption_ that Rogers would be his murderer."

Hesitantly, he asked, "Could I hear some of the others he programmed for that situation?"

"You know," mused Tony, "when Steve got all righteous at me, I told him I sometimes wanted to punch him in his perfect teeth. We weren't exactly the most touchy-feely friends."

He laughed at that, and Matt joined in. They were discussing a murder, or close anyway, and Tony was cracking jokes about it.

Tony had _recorded_ that message as "in case my friend murders me." Matt wasn't sure how he would even respond if someone he cared about attacked him. Well, actually, he supposed he did. It had happened, and he had still tried to save her life. The situation wasn't exactly the same, of course, she hadn't known it was him she was stabbing.

"JARVIS? No. Wait. Tony?" He asked quietly. "Were you like this in real life, too?"

After a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Not exactly, Matt. See, I'm insecure, I have PTSD, I can be horribly abrasive on bad days, and I act really arrogant to stop being from seeing that I'm more fragile than I have a right to be." He put on a cocky smirk that even a blind man could see through. "If you met me, you wouldn't like me. It's only once you get to know me that you can see this side of me, usually, and even then I have bad days."

"I like to think we've gotten to know you pretty well," Hank said from his mat, where he had apparently appeared without Matt even noticing. "I mean, I'm your uncle now."

"That you are, Uncle Hank," Tony responded brightly. "I'll be honest, I'm sure you've realized this already, but when I programmed these responses, I was hoping you'd like me."

Hank smiled. "Believe me, the nicknames gave it away."

 **A/N - I STARTED COLLEGE CLASSES TODAY**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N - Unfortunately I figured the story should have an actual plot. Here, have some actual plot.**

 **AND STEVE.**

Morris won the primary. It was mostly Darcy and her Rising Tide connections exposing dirt on the other candidates, but they were mostly okay with it, because there was mountains of information on shady deals of the opponents and only molehills on Morris's. They almost all actually _liked_ the guy.

All Morris knew was that Pepper Potts was involved with what was now becoming known as the Demosthenes Proposal. He also knew that she was supporting him for his position on clean energy and on the proposal itself. It was a good endorsement to have, so he didn't ask questions.

The general election campaign was half over when they brought Steve Rogers in on the secret after he admitted to Wanda that he hoped he got a chance to actually sign the document, assuming it actually followed the basic idea.

"Step on the mat," she told him, "and prepare to have a heart attack, because there's a hologram on the other side that's just a bunch of recordings, okay?"

He gave her a very strange look, but soon was wide-eyed and actually kind of close to panicking and stepping off the mat again.

Tony turned and his eyes widened. Only Vizh, Natasha, and Phil were there to witness the fated meeting. The rest had either been busy, like Jane, or refused to show, like Rhodey.

"Okay, so this is awkward for both of us, except it's just you actually seeing as I'm not actually real, just a construct, but believe me recording this message was kind of awkward in and of itself, which is why I'm talking so much already, I'm sorry about that. So it looks like you actually agree with the Demosthenes Proposal, which believe me is a _relief,_ I hope nothing goes wrong this time. As you already know, it's an alternative to the Sokovia Accords that probably wouldn't work without the Accords failing first. Yes, to answer the inevitable question, I _did_ set all this up on the assumption that something would go wrong with the Accords. Yes, it _did_ take forever. Yes, Matt Murdock _was_ my idea, no, I _won't_ tell you why I picked him." He shrugged. "Um, I'm really hoping you'll help out with this, might be a bit awkward at first, but this room is a 'no hate' zone unless that hate is directed at Ross. Oh, yeah, that was us, too."

Steve could only stammer out, "Okay." He wasn't sure how to even speak to this recording, he was pretty sure apologizing to a hologram didn't count.

"Okay, you'll do it?" Tony grinned. "Great. Remember, 'no-hate' zone, so if anyone gives you trouble, report them right to me, okay? I'm talking about Rhodey, in case you couldn't tell."

Then his image flickered and changed to a different position. Everyone else seemed to take it in stride, but Steve was confused until he realized the recording was changing.

"So, apparently, if you're watching this, we got Rogers! That means it's time to wrap up Phase Two, pull in the whole of his team, get together and get a document written down. This would be a good time to decide whether you actually want me in on that, considering I'm dead and I won't actually be affected by it… and I, er, don't have the _best_ track record with these things."

Natasha and Phil exchanged a glance, and the latter was the one to answer. "Doesn't matter, Tony, it's still your party."

The hologram smiled. "I figured you would say something to that effect. Sentimental superheroes. Talk to a hologram for a few months, you start thinking it has feelings to hurt."

"Well," Natasha muttered, "we're actually just telling the truth. There are benefits to having a genius in the room when you're trying to write up a document."

Phase Two was ending, and Phase Three was, hopefully, soon to arrive.

There was one part of Phase One they had all forgotten about.

* * *

"Er, Tony, JARVIS?" A quiet voice filtered across the phone. "It's Hope, I really need some backup. It's Ross."

JARVIS was the one to answer. "Where?"

"Presidential campaign rally in West Virginia. I'm trying to hold him off, but he brought… a whole shit ton of people actually. Soldiers. The president-elect doesn't have enough protection, I've stashed him in a building but they're searching and I can't distract much longer." Most of the words came out in one rushed breath. "Backup? Please?"

"Only Darcy, Peter and Jane are here at the moment. I will contact them." As soon as he did so, Tony's program perked up and waited nervously for their arrival.

To Peter, he simply said, "Suit up and get to the roof." To Darcy and Jane, however, he took a deep breath and blurted out, "Can you fight?"

"Um, not really," Jane admitted, but Darcy nodded.

"Gun, taser, repulsor," a hitch in the program, and JARVIS took over, "or shield?" It took Darcy a minute to realize what he meant, and she fought back a grin.

Stretching out her arms, she said, "Our only candidate for President is in trouble, right? Better make it taser, repulsor, _and_ shield."

Suits on autopilot took them to the battlefield. Hope was right, she was outmatched, even if she could shrink to smaller than the bullets. She was just outnumbered in a big way. "Vizh is on his way," Darcy shouted, and Hope flew to her ear to tell her where the president was.

Later she would assert that it was pure luck that the media had caught the picture of her holding out Captain America's shield and standing in front of the governor. Total luck. Nothing to do with the fact that Peter always had a camera on him and was covering Darcy, none at all.

She really did look badass, though, and he just could not resist.

"Well, looks like Ross won't be bothering us anymore," Tony smirked when they were all assembled after the incident. "Matt, don't you dare defend him in court, please and thank you."

"As if I would!" He laughed. Tony laughed.

Steve smiled slightly, the first time he had done so since he had first appeared in the Demo Room. He turned to the 'scientist wrangler.' "You were pretty handy with the shield. Next step, get a ridiculous costume and go sell war bonds with a team of skimpily clad male dancers."

She snorted, and Natasha nearly doubled over laughing. "G-gotta follow the process," she said, tears in her eyes.

Tony didn't laugh. They all turned to him, surprised, only to find him staring at Natasha. He noticed their attention and shrugged. "It's just… really nice to see you all laughing that hard."

"Oh," said Wanda quietly. "I can't believe you actually recorded something like that in the middle of setting up a program to save the world." She smiled slightly.

"Okay, but he seriously recorded a ten minute speech in case I started crying," Harley pointed out. He shook his head. "It starts out with accusing me of being allergic to his face."

Darcy couldn't help it. She snorted again, and this time Tony laughed along with them. Nobody asked how Harley had found out, every single one of them had cried at one point or another in the Demo Room. And yes, Tony had recorded a different speech for each of them.

And if, the next time they appeared, Steve had drawn a picture of Darcy in front of a male chorus line, punching Ross in the face theatrically... well, it turned out Tony had a lot of different responses for laughing so loud it shook the room, too.

 **A/N - Yes but imagine Tony actually in his lab recording these... :( I have feels**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N - IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ HOLOGRAM!TONY BEING SO MUCH OF A SAP THAT IT'S OOC FOR REAL TONY, DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER, OKAY?**

 **SERIOUSLY.**

 **DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TONY BEING AN OOC SAP**

 **DON'T DO IT**

 **if on the other hand you are like me and you live for 'Tony Stark Has A Heart' stuff, have some HoloTony :)**

It was the morning of the election, and everyone was going full speed ahead. Jane, Bruce, Hank and Peter were locked in the lab for an all night binge that even Darcy wasn't going to stop. Matt was in court, ready to rush out to vote during his lunch break, making sure to let himself be ambushed by the press on his way.

Vizh and Wanda were working on the actual document still, while Hope, T'Challa and Harley were pulling quotes from it for Governor Morris to hopefully use in his victory speech. His concession speech was already written, and a copy had been symbolically burned.

Darcy, in disguise of course, was out in the streets of Queens with an equally disguised Phil, holding Morris for President signs and looking for some news cameras so they could casually burn a copy of the Sokovia Accords and hope someone would pick up the trend. The idea had already been publicized on the internet by JARVIS the day before. They liked to think of it as Tony's part in the big day.

Rhodey and Pepper and Natasha and Steve were holding a debate in the center of the room, a somewhat friendly affair where they switched sides every point, trying to poke holes in their own arguments and each other's, taking turns attacking and defending the current version of the proposal. They were, in Tony's words, "Damn good at it, let's get you in suits and put you in the United Nations and we'll have this in the bag!"

Every single one of them was trying to forget that if things went wrong today it could be four more years before they even had another _chance_ to make a difference. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could make the switch in a few other countries during that time, but it wouldn't be enough. The United States had pressed for the Accords, and it was the United States that needed to admit they had been wrong.

"Hey, guys." Tony stood up and everyone glanced at him. "So, as you may have predicted, I have a whole damn speech to make. Except, I'm not going to make most of it, because apparently I'm lucky enough that you all know what I want to say. How proud I am of how much we've done. How nervous I am for today. How much I wish I could see it, and how glad I am that I'm getting a chance to tell you all of this."

He gestured around the room, with its poster paper tacked on the wall and the glowing image of a white campfire on one wall with the words _Demosthenes Protocol_ emblazoned in red through the heart of the flame.

"I'd like to think this has become a place a little more important than just a room with some really cool technology. I'd like to think that we've become a team, even this hologram of myself, and luckily I honestly do believe that no matter what happens today… we've at least fixed _something._ Even if the world doesn't see it yet, I think we've come a hell of a long way from the fights and the times we never listened to each other and the times some of us never even knew each other. I'm honestly really proud, even though I have no idea if this will all come to pass, I am _incredibly proud_ of what we've managed to accomplish."

Steve was definitely not crying. Neither was Rhodey. Definitely not. Only Pepper and Harley were crying, definitely… okay, so maybe it was everyone. But maybe not. They would admit nothing if anyone outside their little group ever asked.

"So, um, I would say thank you for making my dream come true, but you've done better than that, and I just don't have the words. All I can say is… just, if this doesn't happen today, don't give up. I will totally understand if you can't promise that, and I'm not saying you should keep coming and working your asses off for four years, but… next election, maybe we give it another shot, those of us who want to." He shrugged. "I'll still be here."

In the courtroom, as the jury recessed for a few minutes, Matt put his phone to his ear just in time to catch the speech. When it was over, nobody dared ask the lawyer why his face was contorted as if in pain. "I'll be there," he said as if confirming a lunch date.

"We'll be there for sure. And we _will_ be working our butts off in the meantime, because science waits for no man or woman," Hank assured them from one of the black mats in the lab.

"Yes," Jane agreed. "We still need to find out what secrets the universe has creeping up on us, and honestly, I'm looking forward to it."

"Four years is a long time for someone who isn't even four times that," Harley said with a smile, "but I really believe I won't _ever_ outgrow something like this."

Darcy snapped a selfie with Phil. She sent it to the screen as she spoke. "Honestly? This has been more fun than I ever thought saving the world could be. I'm really glad I got to meet all of you, but I won't say I'll be back in four years." She exchanged a knowing glance with Phil. "Like Tony said, we've become a team. And a team this awesome isn't going to lose, not now, not when everything hinges on something we've poured our _souls_ into."

Phil took the phone. "I will say I'll be back in four years, because win _or_ lose, I hope that will happen. I hope we'll all still be together in four years."

"I can't believe we've actually gotten this far," admitted Rhodey. "When I first heard this crazy idea, I almost turned and left, and I'm really glad I didn't. I'll be back as many damn elections as it takes. And anyway, taking down Ross counts for something, right? He can rot in jail and tell everyone how he was beaten by the girl who tased an Asgardian."

"That photo of Darcy is definitely still saved to my phone," Peter said with a smile, his image flickering as he peered into a microscope. "I'll still be here in four years. Well, actually, I'll be in college, but I'll take a year off if I have to. This is the most important thing in my life. If Tony turned to me right now and said I need to stop being Spider-Man for the next four years in order to help, I would do it. I wouldn't even think about it." He blushed.

Matt, still on the phone, couldn't help but respond to that. He glanced around, then spoke in a quiet voice that he knew JARVIS would amplify. "I would do the same. It's not like being Daredevil was really doing as much good as being on this project." He smiled, even knowing that they couldn't see it over the phone, and waited for Tony's response.

"Oh, _yeah!_ The Daredevil speaks! Phil Coulson, if that didn't surprise you, I will be sorely disappointed. I'm pretty sure like four people knew about that before he spoke just now."

Wanda giggled, then once the surprised exclamations and laughs died down, she spoke. "I've felt, since this whole mess started, that it was partly my fault. Not all of you know that I influenced Stark back when I was working for Hydra, I was part of the reason he created Ultron. Then, after what happened in Lagos seemed to start this whole mess… well, it's been horrible for me watching everything crumble down and thinking it might be my fault." She held up a hand to stop Steve from speaking. "I've talked a lot to Tony about that. You wouldn't believe how much he has recorded, not just to assure me I've done my best, but to remind me about where people have started and where they've ended up."

"I may have used myself as an example so often she felt the need to call me out on it," he commented, and they chuckled at the extraordinary fact that he'd recorded _that_ of all things, and it might not even have been about Wanda.

"What you did, Tony, was to give me the one thing I haven't been able to find, as much as I've tried, with Hydra and Ultron and the Avengers." She straightened up and gestured at the white campfire. "You've given me hope that I have a future here, here in this room that I've never actually set foot in. And I think you've managed to give me a family as well," she finished, so quietly they almost didn't hear her.

Tony's hologram stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, well, a little off the mark because she'd grown almost an inch, but close enough. "I agree. Wanda, I hope you always feel like this place can be a home for you, even if it's hard, even if we're messing up and trying not to trip over our own and each other's feet. I doubt you're the only one who feels it."

"She isn't," said Natasha calmly. "I've tried it with SHIELD, but I couldn't fully trust them. I've tried it with the Avengers, but we were always a time bomb. Now… I've been nervous to admit it, but this place is home for sure."

Tony practically _beamed_ at her. "Sometimes you find the place, Natasha, and sometimes the place finds you. I'm just happy you've found _somewhere_ … and even happier that it's here."

"I have also found here," Vizh said quietly, "and I am glad you feel the same way." He was looking at Wanda, and it was Wanda who took his hand, though not without a blush. Tony didn't say anything, just game them a knowing smile that _had_ to have been recorded just for them.

T'Challa smiled. "When we first came here, I do not know if you remember, but Stark said he had no idea what my motivations were because everything I did was for personal reasons." He glanced around at them. "I think I have found more personal reasons to care about this."

"Well, I think you're all saps," said Hope firmly, and then smiled. "So, I guess I'll be a sap, too. Might as well get it over with. Dad used to say, and he's rolling his eyes right now because he knows what's coming, but Dad used to say " _Never trust a Stark."_ And that worked out pretty well, right up until we came here. And I think we've both abandoned that one by now. Tony, when you put this together, I want you to know even though you can't know… you did right. Really right."

He took a mock bow and then honestly blushed. "Seriously, thanks. This was the only thing I've been sure about in a long time. I'm glad I was firm about the only thing that mattered."

"Sometimes I used to think you were more arrogant than you were a genius. I'm not sure you ever showed this side of you for more than minutes at a time, Tony." Pepper gestured at the holographic projection. "I've held on as your friend because every time I see this Tony, the one without all the masks, I understand just how wrong people are about you. We've all had the privilege of seeing you like this for months now, more than half a year, and you know what? It never gets old, and I'm glad you decided to show it. I'm glad you put this together, because it's good for the world, it's good for us… and I'd like to think it was good for you to know we would know you cared. Cared so much that you let all your barriers fall."

"You're right. Pepper, I knew you'd be the one to find the words, the words that I couldn't find. This version of me, a few of you have asked if I'm… if I was really like this. I told you the answer was no, I told you how messed up I really am. But it's true that, underneath everything, there _is_ part of me that survived behind those masks, that ended up like this." He smiled sadly at all of them and met each of their eyes in turn. "I'm sorry I couldn't get up the courage to let these barriers fall when I was alive, but I knew I could get hurt if I showed this side of me then. So here it is, the part of me nobody sees, the reason I can feel guilt and shame and also the reason I can love. And I do, you know. Love you. Some of you probably hated me when I recorded this, and I probably felt the same about some of you, but I just _know_ that after everything we've been through by the time this message is activated… I will, would, _do_ think of you as my family."

At that point, nobody could have denied that they were crying. The holographic Tony looked down at his hands, swiping them through solid furniture.

"I walked in here the first time and thought that apologizing to a hologram wouldn't help," Steve blurted out. "It doesn't. If I could take back everything I would do it, but I can't… and the best I can do is be here and tell a you that can't hear me how sorry I am. The best I can do is to carry on here, in this place where you should be standing and listening, not just talking and making us happy. At the start, I wished the rest of the group would be angry, wished Rhodey would actually hit me. Now I'm calling him _Rhodey_ and Pepper is _Pep_ and you're making up nicknames for me and calling me _Stevie,_ and I'm starting to realize the worst punishment is that I can't tell you how much you make me laugh."

Tony grinned. "I don't always have the words, Cap, and never when I stood face to face with you, but I've got them now. This was forgiven before it happened."

Pepper and Rhodey didn't even want to speak anymore. They'd seen Steve be there for everyone whenever he possibly could, and while nothing would make up for what he'd done, he wasn't a bad person, either.

"And Steve, it's like I told Matt, there's only one thing you can do for me. When you talk about me someday, with a group of people who will never meet me," he smiled and reached out as if to brush away one of the tears on the captain's face. "Steve, even with everything that happened, I'd like you to introduce me as your friend. That's what I still consider myself."

Voice so choked it could barely be understood, Steve replied, "I can do that."

Bruce was the last to speak. "When I first met Tony Stark, he complimented my research and the fact that I turn into a giant green rage monster." Everyone laughed. "The next time we saw each other, in the lab, he jabbed me in the side with a tool that gave me an electric shock, and then he leaned _closer_ to look into my eyes. I didn't understand for a few seconds, I'm not sure anyone else ever caught on. He was doing something nobody had ever done, which was to trust me instantly and wait for me to prove him right or wrong."

Tony made a finger gun and shot at him. "And you proved me right, didn't you?"

"See, only you would describe the following events as…" he trailed off and glanced around the circle, meeting Steve's eyes, Natasha's, everyone else's. "Okay, well, you and literally everyone here, apparently. And the only thing that stops me from breaking down in tears constantly is the idea I have in my head that you already did know how much I would feel at home here, that you didn't _have_ a recording for me getting fed up and leaving. Am I wrong?"

It was JARVIS who answered. "Sir had a recording for everyone leaving. Your only entry assumed that Ross had abducted you."

Bruce smiled. "You're the best friend I've ever had, but you knew that, Tony. And I'm so, so glad that you knew that, because I know most of us cry sometimes in here when we realize you'll never know how close we've all gotten to each other, and to you."

Tony just smiled, his program shivered, and the smiled turned into a tearstained face.

"This is the last entry I'm recording. I'm walking into the base, now, I think I can tell which way Steve and Bucky went. Yeah, I called them that, deal with it. And I'm starting to feel like this is a trap, so I figured I'd better record this." He took a deep breath. "This is my real goodbye, the one where I accept that I'm dead when you're seeing this, and this one assumes the best case scenario, that we're somehow honestly a family now."

Everyone braced themselves, knowing that this would be the last thing they would ever truly hear from Tony, technically the last words he would ever say to most of them.

"If there's one thing I regret about this whole thing, it's that I won't be there for you forever, that I can't guess everything that will happen to you. It won't be long before you start running into things I don't have any recorded messages for, or even any that will fit, and that's what I regret. Someday you'll turn to me and I'll just stare at you and you'll wonder why I'm not saying what you know I would say. Then suddenly you'll realize, or JARVIS will tell you with sadness that your eyes will echo, the words I've come to associate with tragedy: _He didn't see this coming._ And you'll realize that this hologram that contained so much of me has done the same as me, has _run out of time_ , and I'll leave you again. And you know how sorry I am to do that."

He took a deep breath and said what they knew had been the only thing he could think of at the time, but was somehow perfect anyway.

"I just want you to remember that even when you wonder why I'm not saying what you thought I'd say, you know exactly what I would have said. I've rubbed off on all of you, and by now, you all probably think that's a good thing. So, the next version of my hologram, the next thing that says what I want to when I can't… well, it's you."

His hologram faded for a second, replaced by the symbol of the white campfire, and red words were once again layered on top, typed out letter by letter.

 _DEMOSTHENES PROTOCOL, PHASE FIVE: BECOME A FAMILY_

 _COMPLETE._

 **A/N - I WARNED YOU**

 **DO NOT SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU THIS WAS SAPPY AF**

 **have a nice day and some Tony feels**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N - So I'm not sure you realize, but we're getting disturbingly close to the end...**

 **Also the reviews from chapter 12 made me happy inside people say such nice things about Tony :)**

* * *

Of course Morris ended up squeaking out a win, cresting the 270 electoral vote mark with only a half dozen to spare. Recounts were done, but the number stayed pretty much steady.

Nothing would change until January, but they had a celebration anyway, and watched the newly elected official read his victory speech, handed to him by a smug Darcy just as the results were announced. It included, tucked neatly between a promise to make America a force for good in the world and a few words in celebration of the courage of the people he was representing, a single phrase that made all the difference.

" _In addition to changes to America's role in climate protection and our policy toward refugees, the United States will lead the way toward a breakthrough in superhero regulation known as the Demosthenes Proposal."_

It was a few words, but it caught international attention. The website they had created took off in minutes, with hits in the tens of thousands overnight. It contained a full and hopefully final draft of the proposal that many criticized as being too loose, too flexible.

The only response they could give was, "You know what? We tried inflexible. In 2012 it got a nuke shot at Manhattan and in 2016 it got the man who diverted that nuke put in a coma."

"If I didn't know better," said Natasha calmly to Pepper, "I would say it looked like Tony Stark was messing with politics again."

Overhearing them, Tony started to laugh and laugh. And because it was just so infectious, the others just had to join in.

"There's one more thing we need to do, and soon," said Tony. "Using your best judgement, obviously, it's time we started forming our united front." He gestured to the same floor panel he had shown Vizh all that time ago when they wanted to bring Wanda to the Demo Room. "I hope I've made enough mats for everyone…"

"Right. I guess we'd better get a move on," commented Natasha, "because they'll be mad we left them out for this long already. Scott's going to give you two the death stare."

Hope laughed. "My death stare is better than his, he won't even try it."

They decided to just bite the bullet all at once, bringing Clint, Scott, Bucky and Sam all in at once. At the last minute they decided to add Melinda May, Phil's right-hand woman on his old team, whom he had mostly abandoned to work on Demosthenes.

Needless to say, there was some serious confusion, but it helped that there were more than enough people to explain. It also helped that Tony had actually created a _briefing_ for SHIELD agents, including Melinda May, who looked somewhat impressed.

Everyone was a bit angry that they hadn't been told before two phases had already been completely, but they mostly shrugged it off as, _well, reasons are reasons._ Only Bucky and May were still slightly suspicious of the Demosthenes Proposal, and both of them said clearly that it was only because they were worried someone like Ross would try to exploit it.

"This isn't going to be a bureaucracy," said Tony confidently. "This is what we make it, constantly evolving, and there are few enough superheroes in the world that it can work if we just work together. Also, the part about avoiding fights to the death is… probably a good idea." He snorted and took a mock bow that spread winces around the circle.

"Does he do that a lot?" May asked curiously.

"What, make fun of his death, predict the future, or use sarcasm to make a point?" Phil shrugged and gave a wry smile. "To all three… well, yes."

It happened between the election and the inauguration. In fact, it happened one week before Christmas, during a time when the whole group was gathered in secret in the Demo Room to celebrate the holidays together. It had been difficult to smuggle everyone into the Tower, never mind into the _country_ , but they had managed it.

Tony was just finishing his Christmas toast, "To family, wherever we can find it." They all raised their glasses, smiling, and the program just… stopped. Froze in place with his glass raised and a smile locked on his face, then flickered and disappeared.

"JARVIS…" Bruce was the first to ask the question, not knowing what this was, he feared the absolute worst he could think of. "Is there no more recorded?"

"Doctor Banner, the recording has not reached its ending. Protocol Demosthenes Eight-Seven has been activated. Stand by."

Confused glances were exchanged all around the circle, and then Tony was back, standing dressed in sweatpants and a shirt with grease spilled down the front. "So, the first program I'm going to write is because I'm an optimist. This will require a code to activate, let's make that D87, so it's Protocol Demosthenes Eight-Seven." He grinned up at the camera. "Hello, whatever members of you there are, however long this has been going, no matter whether you've found success or failure or both so far. Congratulations."

He smirked and the image changed to a live video feed of only Tony's face, gaunt, unshaven, eyelids drooping, _real_.

"You, ladies and gentlemen," he said in a cracking voice, "aren't going to get rid of me that easily. D87: apparently, I'm not dead."

* * *

 **A/N - Ha I gave you no warning in the author's note that we were *here* already.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N - I have abandoned 'staying true to the characters' in favor of ANGST AND FLUFF**

Suffice it to say, the doctors gave up completely on imposing a visitor limit. Everyone was allowed into the room at once, they didn't even try to shoo away _so many_ superheroes.

For a moment, nobody was quite sure what to say. Even Tony, normally with so many quick comebacks, heartfelt speeches that were apparently off the top of his head, and quiet encouragements, was silent. Nobody dared move.

There was something, though, that they had all wanted to do for a very long time. They had been talking almost constantly to Tony, and he had been speaking back, but there was a missing piece there that they had all at some point wished for, because he was just a construct of light, and they couldn't actually touch him.

"Hi," said Darcy quietly, and reached out to brush her fingers gently against Tony's gaunt cheek, somehow amazed that her hand didn't pass through. "You made me a badass."

Tony huffed a tiny chuckle and replied in a whisper. "Darcy Lewis, you were already a badass, and you know it."

" _Tony_!" Harley rushed forward and, showing considerable restraint, only gently hugged his mentor's arm. He totally wasn't crying. Neither was Tony. Definitely not.

"You absolute _madman,_ " Rhodey choked out, "I've been talking to you every damn day and I still missed you. You're never allowed to do something like that to me ever again."

Matt Murdock emerged from the back of the room and looked Tony right in the face with unfocused eyes. "You argued me into using self-defense as an argument. I've been wondering for months now if you would have actually-"

"Yes, I would have." Tony took his hand, barely having the strength to lift his own an inch. "And I can't thank you enough for actually going along with it, I know it must have grated on you."

Jane Foster insisted on telling him the Cliff's Notes version of everything she and the other scientists had discovered, and revelled in watching his eyes grow steadily wider, just as they always did when she rambled out some astonishing epiphany.

"Good _job,_ Jane." He blinked. "Is it okay if I call you Ja-"

"Of course!" She grinned at him. "And I think Hank will be heartbroken if you go back to calling him _Dr. Pym_ at this point, and besides, half of us are claiming him as our uncle now."

Phil nodded. "If you call me _Director Agent_ now, after you _finally_ started using my first name, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool on the carpet."

Tony pointed a slightly shaky finger at him. "I understood that reference!"

"It's nice to meet you again, Tony," said Hope. "Hope Van Dyne, but you knew that. You changed my entire outlook on corporate ownership, not to mention being a superhero."

Pepper finally realized it was actually happening, he was actually awake, and broke down in silent sobs. Tony managed to lift a hand high enough to run it through her hair a couple of times, smiling gently until she calmed down a little. "I know I hurt you, Pep. I'm sorry. I tried my best."

"You did more than that," Bruce asserted. He grinned. "You got rid of General Ross, got Governor Morris elected, put the Demosthenes Proposal into the running for actual international consideration, and we're just getting _started!"_

"Technically, you guys and a bunch of recordings of me did all that," he pointed out. "So, I'm sure my hologram has already told you, but _holy shit you actually did the thing?_ Thank you, _thank you_ for believing in it."

"We believed in _you,_ Tony," Natasha insisted. "You brought us together, put all the facts in front of us, and asked us if we could take it and make it reality. We trusted you when you said we'd make it, and we did. And it's been one hell of a ride so far, so thank _you_."

His face lit up. "Natasha, you _do_ care."

"Of course I care, idiot, you're all my family now," she managed to get out, before her voice cut off and she just took his hand.

Eventually, his eyes roamed the room, finally picking out a tall, blond form hovering back near the door. Meeting Steve's gaze, he calmly told him, "Come here."

The supersoldier was at his side in an instant. He didn't speak, didn't appear to be able to. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but not a sound emerged.

"So, the problem with speaking only from the past is that it's hard to know what changed in the few hours that _weren't_ recorded, between the revelations and the actual events and the words and everyone losing their tempers," he said, and stared as hard as he could at the blue eyes. "So, you want to know what changed? _Jack shit, Steve._ I still mean every damn word I said."

Hank smirked. "Hear, hear. At last, a man who means what he says." He winked, and Tony grinned back before redirecting his smile toward Steve, who was completely in tears.

"You know, if everyone could stop _crying,_ that would just be absolutely amazing. Haven't you all done enough of that when I was in a coma? Now that I'm awake, you'd think people would be smiling, but no, apparently it's a tragedy."

Darcy plopped down on the edge of his bed, careful to avoid his legs. "Okay, first off, you look like shit. Absolute shit. Second, Steve's freaking out about killing you, it's what he does. We got used to it, he's really a care bear disguised as a man. Third, I am _severely disappointed_ at how you named your robots, and at the same time incredibly proud of how you named your robots."

"Oh. Oh, I like you." Tony grinned even wider. "You are _just_ the person I was hoping you would be, you can pull everyone out of their moping party! Darcy Lewis, scientist wrangler extraordinaire and full-time badass?"

"That is my name and _most_ of my full title, don't wear it out."

"What's the rest of your title?" Tony looked curious, and Darcy immediately pulled out her phone, pulling up first the picture of her defending the President, then the drawing of her punching Ross in front of a line of kicking male dancers.

She grinned. "Captain of the conga line."

"That is…" he hesitated, then finished quietly with, " _so_ much better than Iron Patriot." Darcy snorted, Harley started giggling, and suddenly there it was.

The _laugh._

Cracked and wheezing but still so incredibly infectious that it had everyone nearly on the floor within seconds, and Natasha was doubled over with tears in her eyes, and Tony could help it.

"It's just… really nice to see you all laughing that hard."

"Oh, _Tony…_ " Bruce smiled widely. "It's good to have you back in the flesh. You may have been an absolute clairvoyant with some of those messages, but it's good to know you can hear us telling you how important they were to us."

Tony shrugged. "Look, I know you've heard this one before, but it feels really good to say it, so I'm just going to go ahead." He closed his eyes. "The Demosthenes Protocol was a new project, one I started the day I first got a draft of the Sokovia Accords. It had only two weeks to come together, and then I had to update it as the situation evolved. But even though it was put together at the absolute last minute…"

He smiled around at all of them, seeing how close they stood, how close they all were, and knowing he would fit right into that like a glove, if only he could manage to keep his walls down.

"It's the best thing I've ever made," he said, and suddenly he started crying.

 **A/N - Yes, Natasha is OOC, Steve is OOC, Tony is... always ooc in my stories let's face it**

 **DO I CARE? NO**

 **SHOULD YOU CARE? Maybe idk I don't tell u how to live ur life**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N - So this is probably one of the last two or three chapters, and I'm sorry about that but I honestly like Hologram!Tony better than regular Tony so now that the hologram isn't necessary I'm done.**

 **WARNING: I AM REWRITING THE ENDING BECAUSE IT SUCKED, so the next chapter might not be up for... well, I'll try not to make it more than a week or two. Let's say MAXIMUM two weeks. Trust me, it's worth not reading the garbage that was my first attempt at ending (remember, I wrote this whole story in a 22-hour writing spree, so by this point in the fic I haven't slept in a full day.) (Am I still allowed to say, Enjoy!?)**

It took him months to fully recover from the coma physically. Mentally, he couldn't even manage to begin for the first few weeks. The nightmares of Siberia woke him screaming in the night, and he would lock himself in whatever lab Bruce and the gang weren't using during the day. He didn't even enter the Demo Room for nearly a fortnight.

The first person he went to was Hank Pym. He wasn't sure what brought him there, of all places, especially since he actually barely knew the man. He just picked a person and went.

"Tony? Are you all right?" Hank opened the door immediately, taking in the dark circles under his eyes, the shivers even in the heat of the Tower, the nervous glances. "Come on in, I have tea, we can turn all the lights on."

Hank called Harley and Darcy, who turned out to be the best possible people to have during a panic attack. The younger boy climbed into Tony's lap and refused to stop hugging him, while Darcy filled every second of silence with chatter just interesting enough to keep his focus.

"...so Jane just stares at me, and apparently, she didn't think to check the damn thing with any of the _other_ mysterious glowing things from space, because as soon as she did she realized exactly what was familiar about it," she finished, and glanced at Tony. "Hey, there he is."

"There he is indeed," said Hank. After a few seconds, he added, "If you want to tell us what happened, we actually love to listen to you talk."

He was startled, then settled himself. "Uncle Hank, you've only heard the best part of me talk. The side of me that's constantly forgiving and encouraging… well, I have to lock it up sometimes so that it doesn't get hurt."

" _I_ like to listen to you talk," said Harley, "and _I've_ heard the other sides." And so he had, hadn't he, when he'd accidentally set off a panic attack, and really Tony hadn't been in his right mind that whole time, it was a wonder the child still liked him.

Slowly, he leaned his head against Darcy's shoulder. "I dream of Siberia every night," he admitted. "I kept thinking, while I was lying there, about the fact that the shield my dad made was going to kill me. It ripped right through the reactor, the suit, punctured a lung…" he hesitated.

"It's okay. We want to know about _you,_ not about the details of that. Not if they aren't essential to understanding what's in your head." Hank placed his hand gently on Tony's head.

The whisper came out like a confession. "I was trying so hard and my reward was my friend slamming a shield into my lung and leaving me to die. And because I was trying so hard, I had to forgive him." He looked up slowly. "The part of me that always makes myself the scapegoat is telling me that if I say I messed up, and I say I forgive Steve and Bucky… then I deserved it."

"Christ, Tony." Darcy immediately had him wrapped in a crushing hug. "You didn't deserve anything that happened to you, and you don't have to forgive them, and you don't have to act like the guy in the recordings if you don't feel like him, because then it would be a mask, and we've met you without masks and we love you. So just… be mad if you're mad at them, flinch when you see them if you're terrified, and we're all going to be there to walk you through it."

Harley poked him. "And we don't think you're a hypocrite if you decide you can't forgive them, we don't think you've broken a promise. We'll just think you're human, and you got hurt by people you loved, and you put that aside for too long as it was."

Hank gently moved his hair. "You've done a lot of forgiving. I judged you by your last name, and you still turned around and trusted me with the plans for the reactor, for your best invention."

"No, my best invention was the Demosthenes Protocol," he said quietly. "That's one thing I'll never have to take back, because every part of me believes it."

He wasn't quite sure when he fell asleep, but they were still there when he woke up with red eyes and, for once, calm breathing. He felt safe enough to venture toward the common areas for the first time in days.

The first time he saw Steve running down the hall past him, he allowed himself a small flinch, allowed Darcy to loop her arm around his shoulders to comfort him. She whispered, "You can be as scared as you really are. They'll respect that. If they don't, I'll tase them and watch Supernanny while they drool on the carpet."

Tony snorted. Darcy laughed. Tony joined in, and suddenly laughter surrounded him. That was something he was getting used to, the fact that apparently his laugh made them want to laugh. He kind of liked it, to be honest, the fact that if he really opened up and let his true mirth show through, everyone got caught up in it.

"And it's okay to have bad days and worse nights, because we know you're human, believe me. And so are we, and you've comforted us each when we've been crying, because you took the time to record messages to cheer each of us up when we're down. We're going to be there for you too, and whenever you need a friend, remember that you have almost two dozen right here waiting for you to stumble, just so we can catch you." At some point Natasha had slipped up beside them. He gave her a weak smile, but it was a real one, and that seemed to be all that mattered. She smiled back, radiantly so, and slipped ahead of them into the Demo Room.

They still used the Demo Room. Tony had barely even been in it, but as soon as he stepped inside, he remembered that it was supposed to be _home,_ and instantly it was.

He strode confidently into the center of the room. "JARVIS! Display timeline!" It was the first time he had taken his holographic replacement's place since he had woken up and immediately demanded a phone to call his AI.

"Yes, _sir,"_ was the response, and the brilliantly colored image was immediately floating through the air before him. He remembered, mostly, how he had done this. He knew what he had recorded, anyway, how he had moved the image and how excited he had gotten.

With a flick of his wrist, they were whizzing along the timeline to the present day. The inauguration was in mere days. "All right! Pep, feel President Morris out, make absolutely certain we're still his priority for the second or third day in office. Hope, Darcy, you're totally in charge of planning the homecoming party, and it's going to be _spec-fucking-tacular._ "

"Oh, _absolutely_ will do, Boss Man." Darcy was practically levitating and already scribbling down something Tony really hoped he had read right, because a giant bounce house would be _amazing_ even if he was still too shaky to go inside.

"T'Challa, it's time to start the international phase… or in other words…" he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. " _Phase Four! Phase Four, everyone! We're hella ahead of schedule, let's do this!"_

Vizh actually grinned. He hadn't been aware that was a mannerism the android liked to use. Then again, he had missed almost nine months.

"Peter Parker. Kid. Spider-Kid." Tony leaned in close. "In a couple of days, I think it'll be time to approach your city's friendly mayor, suited up, and ask him if he wants a Demosthenes Spider-Man, because you aren't ever signing the Sokovia Accords."

Peter's eyes stretched wide. "Spider-Man?"

"Spider-Man," Tony confirmed, then rounded on Matt Murdock. "And, if you want, you can go back to avenging Hell's Kitchen. Or, because I get the feeling you have a slightly different perspective on the whole _superhero_ business, you could reinvent yourself here."

Tony took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and prepared himself.

The words slipped out easily enough. "I'd like to put together, well, maybe not a new group of Avengers, but a similar team. That is, if anyone would be willing."

To his surprise, nobody spoke. He flicked one eye open to find everyone looking at him in half shock, half disappointment.

"Not good? I mean, we don't have to, I was just figuring, a lot of you seemed to really like it here so it would be cool if it became something more than a headquarters-"

" _Tony."_ Darcy cut him off. "What everyone here is being a little too dense to say is that we kind of thought we already _were_ going to be a superhero team, once the Demosthenes Proposal was signed into law."

A huge breath left his body all at once. "Darce, have I ever told you that you're my favorite? Because I was starting to think that hesitation was a ' _no.'_ "

Wanda spoke up immediately. "Most of us are kind of desperate to keep this place. It's like we've said before, we've found a home here. We'd never say no."

"But, you don't _have_ to be on the superhero team to stay on the Demosthenes team! I mean, I assume at some point my hologram gave you all the "see you in four years" talk, I hope I'll be seeing all of you for as long as you want to come back." He grinned. "Nobody leaves until they walk out, guys, that's rule number one of Avengers Tower. Always has been."

Relieved smiles greeted him, and he was cheered up thoroughly. Clint, always curious, was the one to ask, "What's rule number two?"

"Rule number two is, if you propose to your girlfriend while I'm in the room, I get to be either your best man or at least the guy paying for your wedding," he asserted immediately.

Vision may have turned slightly redder, and Tony wondered how much longer it would be.

"Rule number three, if I see you having sex in here because you couldn't be bothered to go to your bedrooms, I will absolutely sic an Iron Man suit on you," he muttered, and half the room burst into chuckles, including him. Of course, since he was laughing, pretty soon the whole room had joined in.

This could be good. This could be _so_ good.

He had never expected to be lucky enough to use Demosthenes Eighty-Seven, but now that he had gotten the chance, he thought it might make him something he never had been in a very long time. He thought he might get to be something past content, maybe even loved.

For now, he'd settle for learning that his laugh was infectious.

 **A/N - We don't see Tony laugh a lot in the movies. Think of three times he's done it. I dare you. (Sarcastic chuckle doesn't count).**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N - So maybe rewriting the ending was a mistake because now this fic is going to get a lot longer I suspect so**

 **on the bright side**

 **more demosthenes protocol**

 **on the other hand**

 **not totally written anymore so who knows what the update schedule will be like**

 **anyway have some team fluff and also please imagine Darcy Lewis writing helpful sticky notes and putting them on Tony's coffee cups because yes**

He was learning. It was taking a while, but he was learning about the team that already felt like they knew him.

Honestly, things were strange at first. When he would grab someone's hand to drag them somewhere, or pat them on the back, and they would stare like they had seen a ghost, that was strange at first. When Peter and Darcy referred to him and Phil as "Mom" and "Dad" sarcastically, that was strange at first. (Why was Tony "Mom" anyway? He was totally the dad! Totally!)

The thing was, though, that things were getting easier. He was learning the things he hadn't been able to guess, the little things, like the fact that Hank Pym didn't actually drink coffee like the whole rest of the science team, like Harley's tendency to show up at random times to tell them 'reality check' and make them explain why whatever they were working on would help the world.

Darcy was a lifesaver. She left little notes on his coffee cup with whatever she could think of, like the fact that Jane would be the only one awake at two o'clock in the morning. She would sometimes forget, and leave notes about Pepper or Rhodey, like Tony didn't know them inside out already. _Pepper is allergic to strawberries._ Yes, he knew. It had taken him at least four mistakes to learn that, but he knew. _Rhodey get cranky when you wake him up too late._ Oh, how well he knew that. From experience. Multiple dozen times.

 _Pepper started keeping pepper spray in her bag again last year._ Okay. Okay, he hadn't known that. _Rhodey knew Sam Wilson's wingman._ Or that. _Bruce doesn't actually do yoga every day, he mostly does Qigong, which is like Tai Chi… but more so._ Now he was just surprised.

He still had a lot to learn. Everyone else was equally clueless about him, though. They had no idea, except for Pepper, just how much he relied on coffee to get through the day, they didn't know why he always put his hands in front of his arc reactor when someone hugged him instead of hugging back completely. Hope actually asked him why Stark Tower had an archery range, a bowling alley, and a cinema, but no pool. He let Rhodey explain that one.

It was like meeting family members you had visited all your life but never had a real _conversation_ with. He didn't know their favorite colors. All he knew about some of them was what the internet knew, like what they were allergic to or which colleges they'd attended.

"Darcy. Help." He was flailing, at this point. "Harley's birthday is coming up, right? When is it, what do I get him, what does he even like?"

She sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you it's the day after tomorrow, and he'd probably like a chocolate cake. As for the present, though, come on Tony. _Think_ about it."

He blinked. This was new, her insisting he should know. What had she taught her about Harley? Uh, nothing helpful there… what did _he_ know about Harley? He'd only met the kid once, and in all that time, all they'd talked about was random mechanical stuff.

Oh. Maybe Darcy had a point.

"Well, there's an empty room between my lab and Hank's. I could fix it up, get some parts for robots and stuff, maybe even put a door between them so the robots can help us both…"

"There you go." Darcy looked completely smug. "See, I was just going to say you could get him a book on robots or something, but I forgot you were Tony Stark." Oh, yeah, they were definitely both learning.

The hardest part, for Tony, was when they started working together as a team. He was sort of in charge, only 'sort of' because he had a tendency to ask various members to call out ideas depending on what situation they were in. So far, it was just training, none of it for real.

After the inauguration, things would get real very fast. They had to be ready, because they would have to prove themselves _immediately._

It's just, there was something missing. They were dealing with simulations easily, intelligently, but something was off. Tony couldn't put his finger on it, so he asked Phil, but he didn't know the cause either. At least he'd noticed it, so Tony couldn't say he was imagining things.

"Peter, seriously, if you see something while you're swinging around up there you definitely have full authority to order anyone you like to move their ass toward or away from it." They had been out in the field, well, sort of. Peter, Vision, and T'Challa had been out in the field, the rest had been watching and Tony had been calling instructions.

"Sorry," the kid muttered. "It's just, I guess I always assume that if I can see it, so can you or Vizh or someone else." A good assumption, really, but Tony would rather have too much chatter over the comms than risk missing something important.

Working in a team was hard for another reason, which was that he had to spar. At first he just piloted the suit remotely, not actually up to physical combat, but he knew what sparring meant.

He knew that, at some point in the future, he was going to have to fight Steve.

So, putting together a superhero team out of the Demosthenes Protocol was absolutely nerve-wracking and intense. Probably not terribly good for his heart. And at the same time, the scientists were all in their labs, working hard to understand the so-called 'Infinity Stones.'" It hadn't been until Jane had mentioned them to Thor that they had even gotten a name.

With all that was happening, all that was coming to pass inside the few floors that Demosthenes had taken over, a miracle had occurred.

Nobody outside the Protocol knew.

What was most astonishing about that was that they were all at Stark Tower now. Only Harley and T'Challa had to check in with his black holomat, which was what Tony had finally named the revolutionary piece of technology. After all, Harley had school, and T'Challa had a whole _country_ to run.

Even Peter managed to make it down on weekends and most days after school, Hope and Hank had pretty much moved in and only went back to their own area for emergencies involving Pym Technologies. Matt Murdock had made his excuses and turned over his law firm completely to his partner, a move Tony really appreciated.

Pepper, Rhodey, and Vision had _already_ lived there even before the whole incident, and the rest had permanently moved in secret at various times during the original protocol. Once the fugitives from Wakanda had been smuggled into the country, it was easier to just keep them there, rather than try to smuggle them out again.

So, basically, there were a lot of people who rarely if ever left the Tower. There were a lot of floors mysteriously closed to the public. There were a lot of secrets… and _nobody knew._

At this point, Tony deserved membership in the Illuminati. He had managed to conceal fugitives, superheroes, and preteens for the government, from the corporate world, from the media, from the public, _and_ from supervillains.

Speaking of villains, withdrawing all superheroes from the streets _had_ had consequences. Luckily, the inauguration wasn't far off, Tony was doing well in physical therapy, and pretty soon they would have a full team again. He hoped.

The only thing was, pretty soon it was all going to be over. They would have the new team, yes, but chances were that they wouldn't stay as close together as they had over the past… well, for them, it had been almost two years.

Before that, though, before Demosthenes died, there was one job left to do. They would do it on Inauguration Day, right after the ceremony, which Tony would be attending. They would do it as a team, signing under the name they would choose for themselves.

And before Tony knew it, it was _the day._

 **A/N - "In other news, today the new president was inaugurated, and - where the fuck did all these superheroes come from?"**


End file.
